Is corticophobia spreading among pediatricians?—Insights from a self-efficacy survey on the management of pediatric atopic dermatitis

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic dermatological condition, often diagnosed and managed by pediatricians. However, pediatricians have difficulties with adhering to guidelines, which recommend the use of topical corticosteroids (TCS) as a first-line treatment and oral corticosteroids (OCS) for resistant cases. Our aim was to assess pediatricians’ self-confidence in using steroids in the management of pediatric AD, and investigate which characteristics are related to high self-confidence in prescribing corticosteroids (CS). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study among Israeli pediatricians between April 2022 and June 2022. Participants were asked to answer questions dealing with self-assessment of prescribing CS in the management of AD. RESULTS: A total of 171 residents and pediatricians participated in the survey; 86.6% and 28.1% admitted feeling either average or below-average confidence in the prescription of OCS and TCS, respectively. Physicians who were exposed to higher AD patients (P=0.048) and worked at the clinics (88.2% vs. 60.4%, P<0.001) had high self-confidence in treating AD with TCS. Males (20.3% vs. 8%, P=0.03), and having gone to medical school outside Israel (22.2% vs. 10.4%, P=0.09) were all related to high self-efficacy in prescribing OCS. In total, 11.7% of participants confessed to refraining from prescribing steroids because of fear of side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Most pediatricians have below-average confidence in prescribing OCS for the treatment of AD. Males, working in a community setting, and previous exposure improve the confidence level and can be easily considered in future pediatric training programs.