Evaluation of a parental questionnaire to identify atopic dermatitis in infants and preschool children.

Aim: To develop and validate a questionnaire for detecting atopic dermatitis in infants and small children from the age of 2 months. Methods: Parents to 60 children answered a written questionnaire prior to a physical examination and individual semistructured interview. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of validity, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the questionnaire were performed. Results: A total of 27 girls and 33 boys, aged 2 to 71 months, 35 with and 25 without physician-diagnosed eczema, participated. Validation of the questionnaire by comparisons with physicians' diagnoses showed a sensitivity of 0.91 (95% CI 0.77-0.98) and a specificity of 1 (95% CI 0.86-1). Conclusions: Three questions in a parental questionnaire were sufficient for diagnosing eczema in infants and small children.