Atopic eczema severity over the past week. Free to use.
POEM (Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess atopic eczema severity over the past week. The instrument contains 7 items.
Source / attribution: Charman CR, Venn AJ, Williams HC. Arch Dermatol. 2004;140(12):1513-1519.
The instrument's primary construct — atopic eczema severity over the past week — is operationalized through a fixed set of items, each with a defined response format. This standardisation is what allows POEM scores to be compared meaningfully across clinicians, sites, and studies.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, POEM is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 7 items below to see your POEM score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 5-point scale (0–4). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
POEM uses simple summation: each item's selected response is converted to a numeric value, and the values are added to produce a total score. Reverse-scored items are inverted before summation.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Clear / almost clear | Eczema essentially controlled. |
| 3–7 | Mild eczema | Mild day-to-day impact. |
| 8–16 | Moderate eczema | Moderate symptoms; consider step-up. |
| 17–24 | Severe eczema | Severe symptoms; specialist input. |
| 25–28 | Very severe eczema | Extensive impact; systemic therapy may be needed. |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On how many days has your skin been ITCHY because of your eczema? | 1–2 days | 1 |
| 2 | On how many nights has your sleep been disturbed because of your eczema? | 1–2 nights | 1 |
| 3 | On how many days has your skin been bleeding because of your eczema? | 1–2 days | 1 |
| 4 | On how many days has your skin been weeping or oozing clear fluid because of your eczema? | No days | 0 |
| 5 | On how many days has your skin been cracked because of your eczema? | 1–2 days | 1 |
| 6 | On how many days has your skin been flaking off because of your eczema? | No days | 0 |
| 7 | On how many days has your skin felt dry or rough because of your eczema? | 1–2 days | 1 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
1 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 = 5
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 5 falls between 3 and 7 → Mild eczema
Mild eczema. Mild day-to-day impact.
A score is one input alongside history and examination. POEM supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
If POEM doesn't fit your context, related instruments in dermatology include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLQI | Skin-disease impact on health-related quality of life | 10 | ≈ 2 minutes |
| ODI | Self-reported low-back-pain functional disability | 10 | — |
| NDI | Self-reported neck-pain functional disability | 10 | — |
| Oxford Knee Score | Pain and function after total knee replacement | 12 | — |
| Oxford Hip Score | Pain and function after total hip replacement | 12 | — |
| LEFS | Function with lower-extremity musculoskeletal disorders | 20 | — |
| IPSS | Lower-urinary-tract symptoms in men | 7 | — |
| IIEF-5 / SHIM | Erectile dysfunction screen | 5 | — |
POEM (Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure) is a validated instrument that assesses atopic eczema severity over the past week. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. The 7 items are summed to produce a total score.
POEM contains 7 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 28, grouped into 5 interpretation bands from ‘Clear / almost clear’ up to ‘Very severe eczema’.
On the POEM (total score 0–28), scores of 25–28 fall in the ‘Very severe eczema’ band — interpreted as: Extensive impact; systemic therapy may be needed. The full ladder is: 0–2 — Clear / almost clear: Eczema essentially controlled.; 3–7 — Mild eczema: Mild day-to-day impact.; 8–16 — Moderate eczema: Moderate symptoms; consider step-up.; 17–24 — Severe eczema: Severe symptoms; specialist input.; 25–28 — Very severe eczema: Extensive impact; systemic therapy may be needed. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–2 fall in the ‘Clear / almost clear’ band: Eczema essentially controlled. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
Yes — POEM is in the public domain and free for clinical, educational, and research use without permission. You can use this calculator and the scale itself freely; if you publish results or reproduce the scale, cite the original source paper.
Charman CR, Venn AJ, Williams HC. The Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM). Arch Dermatol. 2004;140(12):1513-1519. This is the original publication for the POEM — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. POEM is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of atopic eczema severity over the past week — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
POEM is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: