What’s Your PO-SCORAD Score? Unpacking this Helpful Eczema Tool

Eczema affects so many different aspects of daily life. EczemaWise, the app created by the National Eczema Association, helps you see the bigger picture of eczema in relation to your overall health by tracking your eczema symptoms and triggers with customizable trackers — including, skin, itch, pain, sleep, stress, treatments, triggers, diet and weather.

Beyond tracking, EczemaWise provides users with a unique, easy-to-use tool, the PO-SCORAD feature, that can help you track your eczema symptoms over a period of time and then give you an estimate of how severe your condition is. 

How you can use your tracked symptoms

Keeping a record of your symptoms and possible eczema triggers can help you and your doctor better understand your condition. It’s important to look at both your immediate symptoms and how your condition changes over time to help assess possible triggers and whether or not your treatments are working. Having a historical record of this information stored in one place can help facilitate conversations with your doctor during visits and keep track of what’s happening between visits. 

“Eczema is a waxing and waning condition — it has a lot of ups and downs. Certainly having a record of the ups and downs over the past several months in particular can be helpful,” said Dr. Peter Lio, assistant professor of clinical dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the founding director of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Center. “Keeping a record of your symptoms and possible eczema triggers can help you and your doctor better understand your condition and adjust your approach to managing it as needed,” said Dr. Lio.  

How your tracked data informs your score 

In addition to storing all of your tracked symptoms, the EczemaWise app has a feature that evaluates your data and gives you a numerical score based on how intense your symptoms were during a specific period of time. This feature of the app is called the PO-SCORAD, or Patient-Oriented SCORing for Atopic Dermatitis. This is a score based on how intense your eczema symptoms are and how much of your body’s skin is affected by your eczema.

The PO-SCORAD is a self-assessment tool specifically tested and validated for eczema patients to use, so you can show your doctor a snapshot of how you’ve been doing over time.¹ Many doctors use assessment tools or scales to help them better understand a patient’s condition and determine how best to help them manage it. 

How can it help?

The PO-SCORAD is a way for you to assess how you’re really doing and help fill in the blanks between doctor’s visits. At your next appointment, whether you’re flaring or not, you and your doctor can use your PO-SCORAD scores to see how your condition changes, discuss if your current treatment approach is working and make informed decisions together.

How do I get my PO-SCORAD score?

Head to the EczemaWise app Track tab and track skin, itch and sleep symptoms all in one day to get your score for that day. 

Before your next upcoming dermatology visit, go to the Manage tab to enter your appointment information and tap “Get started” as part of your preparation for your doctor visit. Your PO-SCORAD score is automatically generated in the Manage tab of your EczemaWise app when you complete an appointment summary. 

You can also see your average score over 90 days, which allows you to capture your severity between doctor’s visits and can help identify patterns in your eczema. Talk with your doctor to find out how frequently you should be tracking your PO-SCORAD. 

Download the EczemaWise app to get started.

References:

1. Faye O, Meledie N’Djong AP, Diadie S, et al. Validation of the Patient-Oriented SCORing for Atopic Dermatitis tool for black skin. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2020;34(4):795-799. doi:10.1111/jdv.15999