Principal Investigators (PI): Marcia J. Slattery, M.D., M.H.S. and
Marilyn Essex, PhD

PI Department: University of Wisconsin-Madison Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Project Study Title: Anxiety and Inflammatory Correlates in Youth with Eczema

Summary of Study

Objective: Identify physiological correlates associated with anxiety in youth with atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic and often psychosocially devastating skin disorder commonly known as eczema. This study investigates an association between anxiety and allergic inflammation. It will test the hypothesis that anxiety is associated with specific biological measures of allergic inflammation in youth with AD.

DFM Involvement: Post study recruitment flyers in clinic waiting rooms. Send an individualized letter to faculty and residents that explains the study (to include study flyer). Periodic e-mail reminders about the study and recruitment efforts to faculty and residents will also be sent.

Clinic(s): All (participation at clinic discretion)

DFM Faculty Contact: Mary Beth Plane MSSW, PhD

Study Contact Person:
Nicole Bushman, Study Coordinator
(608)263-8947
mkflitsch@wisc.edu

Date of Approval: 10/13/05

Dates of Study: Ongoing

Study Implications: Examine the prevalence of anxiety disorders and the severity of anxiety symptoms in youth with AD compared to healthy controls using standardized and validated psychometric measures. Assess the relationship between anxiety symptoms and three physiologically distinct markers of AD allergic inflammation known to correlate with AD disease severity.