Psychodermatologic Patient Education for Atopic Dermatitis Management: A Scoping Review and Evidence Map

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition with significant psychosocial impacts on patients and caregivers. While patient education has become foundational to AD management, programs that explicitly integrate psychodermatologic content remain understudied. We performed a scoping review to characterize the landscape of psychosocial patient education for AD and to identify avenues for future research. We identified 40 studies spanning pediatric and adult populations. Studies were synthesized descriptively with evidence mapping of randomized controlled trials to visualize intervention effectiveness patterns on AD severity and quality of life (QoL). Pediatric interventions showed strongest evidence, with education on mindfulness and relaxation techniques demonstrating the greatest improvements to AD severity and QoL. In-person education programs were most common and effective for children, emphasizing caregiver empowerment and stress management. Adult-focused research remained limited and inconsistent, though mindfulness-based digital interventions showed promise. Digital and mobile health modalities demonstrated potential when incorporating interactivity and social connection, highlighting the importance of emotional expression and peer support. Key limitations include predominance of high-income country studies, small sample sizes, and substantial intervention heterogeneity. This review provides the first comprehensive mapping of psychodermatologic education for AD, revealing significant research gaps in adult populations while identifying promising approaches for future scalable interventions emphasizing emotional support and behavioral change principles.