The relationship between disease severity, quality of life (QOL) and resource use in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) has not been well explored in a managed care population. As the overall lifetime incidence of AD is 15 to 20%, this represents a substantial burden to the healthcare system. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how severity of illness assessed via chart review relates to patient-assessed severity, QOL, and number of physician encounters. METHOD: Questionnaires regarding AD severity (e.g., mild, moderate, severe) were mailed to 400 participants identified from the claims database. Adults assessed their QOL using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36), while children used the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). The number of physician visits for AD over the previous 12-month period were determined from a claims database. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Results of the interim analysis in 150 respondents (64 adults, 86 children) indicate that patient-assessed severity had a stronger correlation with DLQI (r=0.43, p=0.0004) and CDLQI (r=0.42, p=0.0011) than did retrospectively-assessed severity (r=0.39, p=0.0015 [DLQI] and r=0.10, p=0.44 [CDLQI]). Among the eight domains reported in the SF-36, the DLQI showed the strongest correlation with the mental health domain (r=-0.57, p=0.0001). Visit counts were significantly correlated with self-assessed severity for adults (r=0.40) and children (r=0.32). CONCLUSIONS: A weaker correlation for QOL and physician visits was observed with retrospectively-assessed severity than with patient-assessed severity. Self-assessed severity of illness correlated moderately well with QOL and number of physician encounters.