Is my eczema under control?
Six questions about the past week — the ADCT, the validated patient-reported control check used in atopic dermatitis care. You'll get a 0–24 score against the ≥7 control cut-off, plus the option to track it weekly. Severity is a different question — that one belongs to the POEM score. Everything stays on this device.
ADCT is the check-in this page saves and trends. RECAP is a second validated control measure (University of Nottingham) for a complementary reading.
RECAP banding is less standardised than ADCT; a ≥6 cut-off is one reported threshold for inadequate control.
History on this page tracks ADCT — the instrument with the standardised control cut-off. Switch to the ADCT tab to save a check-in.
This is an educational self-assessment, not a diagnosis — share the result with your GP or dermatologist rather than acting on it alone.
The tick on each bar marks 7 — the control line. Scores at or above it flag eczema that isn't adequately controlled.
ADCT asks whether your eczema is under control; the POEM score asks how severe the week actually was. Eczema guidelines think in that pair — a week can be mild but poorly controlled, or rough but on its way back under control — so a weekly check-in on each tells the whole story. When a score jumps, the Skin Flare Diary is the place to work out what set it off.
ADCT© (Atopic Dermatitis Control Tool). Simpson E, et al. 2019; Pariser DM, et al. Curr Med Res Opin 2020. © Sanofi & Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
RECAP (Recap of Atopic Eczema). Howells L, et al. Br J Dermatol 2020. © University of Nottingham (HOME initiative). Free to use with permission.
Scoring, item counts, scales and cut-offs follow the published instruments; question wording is paraphrased for self-guided use.
Saved only on this device — and browsers erase site data. A history clear, a private window, or Safari's automatic deletion after seven days without a visit will take this log with it. The fix is a free Dermington account: it backs this up automatically and puts it on every device you sign in to — details in how storage works.
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How the ADCT works
The Atopic Dermatitis Control Tool asks six questions about the past week — overall symptom severity, days of intense itching, how much the eczema bothered you, and its effect on sleep, daily activities, and mood. Each answer scores 0 to 4, the total runs 0 to 24, and the instrument carries a validated cut-off: a total of 7 or more flags atopic dermatitis that is not adequately controlled. It was developed and validated for exactly this check-in use (Simpson et al., 2019; Pariser et al., Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2020), and a change of 5 points or more between assessments is the published threshold for a meaningful within-person shift.
Control is a deliberately different measure from severity. The POEM score counts how many days each symptom showed up; ADCT asks whether the disease is intruding on your life and whether the current plan is holding — the two axes eczema guidelines use together. This page also includes RECAP (Howells et al., British Journal of Dermatology, 2020), a seven-question control measure from the University of Nottingham's HOME initiative, as a secondary tab for a complementary reading. Because both instruments cover only the previous week, the ADCT is built to repeat weekly: save your score each time and the tool builds a control trend you can bring to appointments. Everything runs and stays on this device — nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Common questions
How is ADCT different from the POEM score on the eczema severity tool?
They answer two different questions about the same week. POEM measures how severe the week was — counting the days each symptom actually appeared — while ADCT asks whether your eczema is under control: how much it intruded on sleep, activities, and mood, and whether the current plan is holding. Eczema guidelines think in exactly this pair, which is why a rough week can score high on POEM while a well-managed one stays under the ADCT control line.
What should I do if my score is 7 or higher?
A total of 7 or more is the validated ADCT cut-off for eczema that isn’t adequately controlled — a signal to review your treatment rather than push through. One bad week after a known trigger can settle on its own, but repeated scores at or above the line mean your current routine isn’t holding, and that’s precisely the conversation a GP or dermatologist can act on. Bring your saved check-ins; a trend argues better than a memory.
How big a change in my ADCT score actually means something?
The published threshold for a meaningful within-person change is 5 points, so a move of 5 or more between check-ins reflects a genuine shift in control — in either direction. A one- or two-point wobble is ordinary noise, which is exactly why saving a weekly score beats judging any single result in isolation.
Why is there a RECAP tab, and which questionnaire should I use?
RECAP is a second validated control measure — seven questions developed at the University of Nottingham, scored 0–28 — and the STL literature reports a cut-off of 6 or more for inadequate control, though its banding is less standardised than ADCT’s. Use ADCT as your default: it has the firmer threshold and it’s the one this page saves and trends. RECAP is here for people whose clinic already uses it, or who want a second reading.
Where do my saved check-ins go?
Nowhere but your own browser — scores are stored locally on this device and nothing is transmitted to Dermington or anyone else. The trade-off is that clearing browser data erases the history and it won’t follow you to another device, so if the trend matters to you, download a backup from Your data. The Derm Visit Prep tool can also fold saved scores into a printable visit sheet.