Child-friendly explanation of the Eczema Bathing Study

1. Who can take part?

 Your child can take part if they:

• Have eczema

• Live in the UK

• Are at least 1 year old in age

• Are willing to change how often they have a bath/shower for 4 weeks

 Your child cannot take part if:

• They don’t have eczema symptoms at the moment

• Their eczema is only on their hands

• Their eczema is only in places where their skin is in contact with nickel, e.g., jewellery

• Their eczema is only around varicose veins

• They have started a new eczema treatment, other than moisturizers (sometimes called emollients), in the last 4 weeks

• They are taking part in another eczema study where they are trying something new for their eczema like a treatment or medicine

• They are planning to swim more than twice a week in the next 4 weeks (including surfing, scuba diving, etc.)

• Someone else from their household is already taking part in the Eczema Bathing Study

If your child is under 16 years, their parent/carer will need to agree that they can take part.

2. Who has set up the study?

People living with eczema and parents of children with eczema have teamed up with researchers from the University of Nottingham.

Together, they are trying to find out how often to bathe or shower with eczema.
The Eczema Bathing Study is part of the Rapid Eczema Trials project (www.RapidEczemaTrials.org). This project is a new approach to running clinical trials. It allows people with eczema to answer questions that they have about how best to care for their eczema. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

3. Do I have to take part?

No, it’s up to you whether your child takes part in this study. If you have any questions, you can contact us, and we will try and answer them: RapidEczemaTrials@nottingham.ac.uk

If you do agree to let your child take part, we’d love for them to complete the 4-week study. But if you decide to let your child take part now and change your mind later, that is fine too. Your child can stop taking part at any time, without having to give us a reason unless they want to.

4. What will my child have to do if they take part?

We will ask your child to answer some questions online about them and their eczema. This will help us find out if they are able to take part in the Eczema Bathing Study.

Your child will then complete an online consent form to say that they are happy to take part in the study. If your child is aged under 16 years, you, as their parent/carer, will need to complete the consent form. There will be an optional section on the consent form for children and young people under 16 to confirm they would like to take part.

A special computer program will put your child into one of two groups:

Weekly Bathing Group: will bathe or shower 1 or 2 times per week

Daily Bathing Group: will bathe or shower 6 or more times per week

This will be done randomly, meaning it works like the toss of a coin. It helps make sure our study is a fair test.
Your child will be in the study for 4 weeks. They will be asked to follow the bathing pattern for the group they have been put into. They can continue to use their usual eczema treatments as often as they need to. We ask that they do not start any new treatments during the study if possible.

Each week we will ask your child to fill out some online questionnaires about their eczema. They will receive a link to the questionnaires by email or, with your permission, by text. We will also send them reminders by email or text to tell them when they need to complete them. Towards the end of the study, we may give them a friendly call as a reminder to fill in the final questionnaire.

Children may fill in the questionnaires themselves if they are able to or with the help of an adult. A parent/carer can complete the questionnaire on behalf of a child, but we encourage you to discuss the answers with your child (if appropriate). If an adult is completing the questions on behalf of a child, ideally this should be the same adult throughout the study.
Everything we will ask your child to do will be online. This means they can access it with their computer or smartphone/tablet from home. If they don’t have access to the internet at home, they can still take part. They can complete the questionnaires at a public place with free Wi-Fi, such as a library or cafe.

If your child completes the final study questionnaire at 4 weeks, they can enter a prize draw if they would like to. They could win £25 or a child-friendly book about living with eczema as a thank you for taking part.

Your child may also be asked if they would be willing to talk to a researcher about their experience of being in the study. They do not have to agree to doing this if they would prefer not to.

5. What are the benefits to taking part?

It may help us to understand more about managing eczema in the future. Some people like to feel they are helping others by taking part, and some people like to try new things out for themselves.

6. What are the risks of taking part?

It is possible that some children may find their eczema gets better, but some might find that it gets worse. They can still use their regular creams and treatments to help relieve the symptoms.

Your child’s safety is always our priority. We do not think they are likely to come to any harm in this study, but if they experience any problems, you can contact the study team at RapidEczemaTrials@nottingham.ac.uk

7. What if I’m worried about extra costs from taking part in the study?

We can support you if you are worried about increased costs from letting your child take part in the study. Just let us know, and we can arrange some financial help.

8. What will happen if my child doesn’t want to carry on with the study?

If your child changes their mind at any time and doesn’t want to carry on in the study, that is okay. It is up to you if you want your child to take part. If you decide your child doesn’t want to carry on, we will still keep and use the information collected before they stopped taking part.
If you are unsure at any stage, then please contact us at RapidEczemaTrials@nottingham.ac.uk

9. What happens at the end of the study?

• When your child’s time in the study ends after 4 weeks, they can have a bath or shower as often as they like.

• You might like to sign up for the Rapid Eczema Trials newsletter to receive regular updates about the whole Rapid Eczema Trials project.

• Once the Eczema Bathing Study has finished for all participants, we will share the results with everyone who took part and will put the results on the website for others to see.

• The results will also be published in scientific medical journals, presented at conferences, and shared with the wider eczema community.

10. How to contact us
You can contact the Eczema Bathing Study research team at RapidEczemaTrials@nottingham.ac.uk

11. Who is organizing and funding this study? How has it been approved?

The study is being organized by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (the Sponsor) and is coordinated by the University of Nottingham. The study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). All research involving people is checked by an independent group of people, called a Research Ethics Committee. This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by London-Surrey Research Ethics Committee (23/PR/0899).

People with eczema have worked as citizen scientists and identified how best to take a bath or shower as a question important to them. They have worked in teams with researchers and doctors to help design important parts of this study. People with experience of eczema are also involved in the teams that oversee the running of the study.

If you would like to find out more about how your data will be used, please follow this link. 

I want to take part in the study! What do I do now?

If you would like to take part, click the ‘Join Now’ button below.

If you have any difficulties, please contact the Eczema Bathing Study team at RapidEczemaTrials@nottingham.ac.uk