Ulf Åkerström, Sakari Reitamo, Tor Langeland, Mats Berg, Lisbeth Rustad, Laura Korhonen, Marie Lodén, Karin Wirén, Mats Grände, Petra Skare, Åke Svensson
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-2051

Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects adults and children and has a negative impact on quality of life. The present multicentre randomized double-blind controlled trial showed a barrier-improving cream (5% urea) to be superior to a reference cream in preventing eczema relapse in patients with AD (hazard ratio 0.634, p=0.011). The risk of eczema relapse was reduced by 37% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 10–55%). Median time to relapse in the test cream group and in the reference cream group was 22 days and 15 days, respectively (p=0.013). At 6 months 26% of the patients in the test cream group were still eczema free, compared with 10% in the reference cream group. Thus, the barrier-improving cream significantly prolonged the eczema-free time compared with the reference cream and decreased the risk of eczema relapse. The test cream was well tolerated in patients with AD.

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