Assessing Attributes of Topical Vehicles for the Treatment of Acne, Atopic Dermatitis, and Plaque Psoriasis

Symptoms Across Conditions

At the beginning of the study, participants reported symptoms they experienced in association with their respective skin conditions. Itching and redness were the only symptoms reported across all 3 conditions in all 6 focus groups. Dry skin/dryness, flaking/scaling/peeling, and pain were reported by at least 1 participant in 5 of 6 focus groups. Other common symptoms reported in at least 3 focus groups included pimples/bumps/boils, sensitivity, bleeding, discoloration of skin, cracking/cuts/skin breaking, and buildup of dead or thickened skin/chunks of skin/plaque. As shown in Table 2, there was more variability in the symptoms reported across the 2 acne groups compared with those reported by the AD and PP groups. Table 2 displays all symptoms spontaneously reported across each of the 6 focus groups. Symptoms are listed according to the terms/descriptions provided by focus group participants.