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Eczema
A JLA Priority Setting Partnership

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) Eczema Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established in 2010, as part of an NIHR Programme Grant, Setting Priorities and Reducing Uncertainties for the Prevention and Treatment of Skin Disease 2008 – 2013. The objectives of the Eczema PSP were:

• To work with patients and health professionals to identify the unanswered questions about eczema treatment from patient and clinical perspectives.
• To agree a prioritised list of those uncertainties, for research purposes.
• To publicise the results of the PSP and the process.
• To take the results to research commissioning bodies to be considered for funding.

Partners and participants

Partners included the National Eczema Society, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and the University of Nottingham. Patient support groups were also involved, such as Nottingham Support Group for Carers of Children with Eczema, as well as clinical and professional groups, such as the Society for Academic Primary Care Skin Research Group.

Developing the priorities

Between early 2011 and the end of 2011 a process of gathering and prioritising treatment uncertainties in eczema was undertaken, under the supervision of a Steering Group. The following were key steps in this process

• An initial survey was undertaken to gather patients', carers' and clinicians' unanswered questions about eczema treatments.
• Unique questions were identified, as well as indicative questions that were put into a standard format
• The Steering Group agreed a long list for voting for priorities.
• A voting survey link was sent to those who participated in initial survey.
• Participants were given a maximum of 10 votes.

The Steering Group reviewed the results of the voting and the top 14 priority topics were agreed based on frequency rankings. Four of the uncertainties were shared between patients, carers and health professionals: these were viewed as being top priority areas for further research.

Following a workshop in January 2012 the 14 priorities were developed into research questions These will be reported shortly.

Background to the Partnership

The Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology (CEBD) at the University of Nottingham (UoN) worked in collaboration with the JLA on this exercise to identify uncertainties about treatments for eczema and to prioritise them for future research. This study was part of a wider research programme called ‘Setting Priorities and Reducing Uncertainties for People with Skin Disease’ (SPRUSD), which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

A similar exercise was conducted in 2009/10 looking at treatments for vitiligo.

To see a full copy of the study protocol click here