Comparative real-world clinical assessment of mometasone furoate 0.1% and fluticasone propionate 0.005% in the treatment of atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Sir, Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a skin disease with complex genetic background which is chronic and pruritic inflammatory in nature with lifetime prevalence of 20%. [1] Topical corticosteroids (TCS) remain mainstay in treatment in spite of availability of multiple treatment options. [2] TCS are a class of hydrocortisone derivatives with variable potency and having anti-inflammatory as well as anti-pruritic properties but with the side effects profile. [3] In some clinical settings, while least potent corticosteroids may be sufficient, but same medication may not be effective in long-term management. [4] In such situation, mid-to high-potent TCS are favored. Mometasone furoate 0.1% (MF) and fluticasone propionate 0.005% (FP) creams are the two most commonly prescribed TCS, either as once daily (OD) or twice daily (BD) in the management of AD, respectively. Due to dearth of comparative data between these two drugs, this retrospective study was aimed to compare clinical assessment in the treatment of AD. A retrospective data analysis was done at 186 dermatology clinics across India after obtaining ethics committee approval (Suraksha Ethics Committee Regd No. ECR/644/Inst/ MH/2014/RR-20 Dated August 18, 2021). The data charts were identified by creating a list of patients (age ≥2 years) prescribed either MF or FP cream at all clinics, using the medical record database. Patients with incomplete data were excluded from the study. Effectiveness was assessed by Atopic Dermatitis Severity Index (ADSI) [5] and Investigator Global Assessment (IGA). ADSI (range, 0-15) consists of the sum of the scores for all symptoms such as erythema, pruritus, excoriation, exudation, and lichenification, with scoring on a 4-point scale (range, 0-3). IGA is graded on a 4-point scale (0 being clearance of the signs and symptoms and 4 beingThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, transform, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.