The Eczema Bathing Study was the first study to come out of the Rapid Eczema Trials - a research programme funded by the NIHR. The bathing study aimed to find out whether it’s better to have a shower (or bath) daily or just once or twice a week for people with eczema.
It was delivered online with no clinic visits or doctors’ appointments. One disadvantage of this was that there were no healthcare professionals to introduce the study and talk to people about getting involved.
Fortunately, the study used the NIHR’s new online research registry, Be Part of Research, to support their recruitment strategy. This free new service makes it quicker and easier than ever for researchers and sponsors to recruit participants - saving time and money. It’s the first UK wide registry for all health and care specialties - with over 600,000 research-ready volunteers already registered with the service from right across the UK.
Volunteers sign up on the Be Part of Research website or via the NHS App (England only) and choose the areas of research they’re interested in. They then receive information on suitable studies, right to their inbox.
A ready-made patient community
There were almost 1,800 people with eczema on the registry at the time that the research was done. The researchers were able to send an email invitation to them about the Eczema Bathing Study.
Eleanor Harrison is Clinical Trial Manager at the University of Nottingham and member of the Rapid Eczema Trials team.
“Within 24 hours we’d recruited a total of 60 people using this route. This has made a real difference."
- Eleanor Harrison
"The Rapid Eczema Bathing Study reached its recruitment target just over 5 months after opening, and is now closed to new participants. We’re so pleased with the results and will certainly be engaging with Be Part of Research for all our other Rapid Eczema Trials too.”
More clarity for patients
The Eczema Bathing Study involved a total of 438 people with eczema, including both adults and children with eczema. 63 of those found out about the study through Be Part of Research.
Everyone was put into one of two groups at random - the Daily Bathing pattern or the Weekly Bathing pattern. The two groups of people were as similar as possible. They recorded their eczema symptoms weekly during the study, for a total of 4 weeks.
Overall, the researchers found that it made no difference to eczema symptoms if people bathed weekly or daily. This is great news for people living with eczema. As one participant put it, people with eczema now have the freedom to choose how often to bathe.
A dermatologist involved in the design of the study commented: “I’ll now be telling my patients that they should do whatever suits them – there is no need to stick to a set bathing routine in the hope that it will improve the eczema.”
The Rapid Eczema Trials team has now commenced the next study – the Keep Control of Eczema Study. This study will test how long to use steroid creams during an eczema flare-up.
