What's it like to be in the COMET study?

A mother’s experience

Now that we have had several participants completing the study, we wanted to find out how the carers found having their child being part of COMET. We interviewed one mother of a child who recently finished taking part in the study, to find out.

Can you tell us a little bit about you and your child who took part in the COMET study?
My name is Sara and my child's name is Freddie. Freddie is 18 month's old and has had eczema since about July 2014. It came on suddenly and was all over his tummy.

How were you invited to take part and what made you sign up to the study?
The nurse Practioner invited us to an assessment at the doctor's surgery and explained all about the COMET trial. We wanted to take part so that Freddie would be regularly assessed and by helping with the trial we would be helping other children in the future.

How easy was it to take part in the study?
It was really easy to take part in the study and we collected the emollient easily. At the start we had a text message to remind us to complete the diary, which was really helpful but you soon get the hang of filling in the diary and, it only takes a few minutes a day, so soon becomes part of your daily routine.

How did you find the researcher visits?
We had a visit from Liz, the researcher, who was lovely and made us feel at ease. She had lots of general advice on ezcema and explained all about the COMET trial and what was involved. Freddie soon took a shine to her and was quite happy for her to test his skin.
We didn't have any issues with taking part in the trial and the researcher visits were scheduled in around a time that was suited to us.

What were the best bits about the study for you and your child?
The best bits of the trial was knowing the data that we provided would be helping future child sufferers with eczema.
The best bits of the trial for Freddie was when Liz came to visit as he liked the sound of the beep the skin tester [corneometer for measuring skin hydration] made on his arm and at the second visit had his arm out ready.

Has the study changed how you look after your child’s eczema?
By being part of the trial we are more aware of looking after Freddie's skin and the importance of regular moisturising. The emollient we tested has really helped Freddie's eczema.

Would you recommend participating in the study to friends?
I would definitely recommend taking part in the trial, as being part of research that will help others in the future, it is a good thing.