A £1 million clinical trial is being launched in the UK to establish if specialist silk clothing helps to ease eczema in children.
The CLOTHES – Clothing for the Relief of Eczema Symptoms – trial is the first large-scale independent, randomised controlled trial to determine the efficacy of silk clothing on eczema-affected skin.
It is being led Professor Kim Thomas from the Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology at The University of Nottingham, and he is looking to enrol 300 children, aged between one year and 15 years, for the clinical trial that will begin in November this year and will run for 18 months.
Volunteers should live or have easy access to Nottingham, Cambridge, north London, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Programme, the trial will compare the use of silk clothing plus normal eczema care, to normal eczema care alone.
Participants will be placed randomly into 1 of 2 groups: the first will receive 3 sets of silk underwear – either a bodysuit and leggings, or vest and leggings depending on the child’s age – and they will be asked to wear them beneath their normal clothes for 6 months.
Each child will be enrolled in the trial for 8 months and will be required to attend their local recruiting hospital 4 times during the trial period.
Parents will have to complete a weekly questionnaire at home so that they can track the severity of the eczema and document how often the clothing has been worn.
“There have been some ‘impressive’ claims recently promoting specialist silk clothing as a new treatment option for people with eczema,” said Prof Thomas. “However, it is still unclear if these garments really do provide additional benefits for patients.”
He said if the study can demonstrate additional benefits for patients, it would be an important finding. Equally, if the research shows that the clothes provide no useful benefit patients and the NHS can save money by not using ineffective treatments.
“Most treatments of eczema only suppress the condition and may have side-effects,” explained Prof Thomas.
“Silk clothing, which is comfortable to wear, is thought to have protective and antimicrobial properties. However, existing research evidence is limited to a few small studies. A cost-effectiveness analysis will also be conducted to see if the garments represent value for money to the NHS and to families.”
The trial involves the University of Nottingham, Portsmouth University, the University of East Anglia, Hull University and the University of Dundee, as well as Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust.
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