Here are the headline results from the survey looking at frequency of bathing for people with eczema.
We asked people with eczema what they thought about taking part in a study to compare ‘bathing often’ with ‘less frequent bathing’.
We got 168 responses: 109 from adults and 60 from parents of children aged 0 to 17. Most of the people who answered were women (65%) between 26 to 50 years old (30%) and had moderate eczema (45%). These results gave us five useful takeaway messages we need to consider when planning the study:
Everyone bathes differently
Some people bathe daily and others bathe less often.
Bathing 6 or 7 times a week seemed to be more common, so this frequency will be our “comparison group” in the research study.
Impact of bathing on eczema is unknown 30% said it helped their eczema and 32% said it made it worse.
People use different wash products for bathing Some use water alone, some use soap-based products, while others opt for emollients or soap substitutes. In the study testing how often to bath or shower, we will encourage people to use what they usually do when washing.
Feasibility of the study We will need people to join who would be willing to try either bathing approach (bathing 6 or 7 times a week or less frequently). Based on the survey results, it looks as though enough people (49%) might be willing to join the study to answer the research question. Conducting this bathing study appears to be feasible.
How long will people try different bathing habits for? 31% of respondents said they would change their bathing routine for as long as needed, 14% would do it for 6 weeks, and 7% would do it for 4-5 weeks. This information is helpful for us to decide how long to make the study.