Beyond the Clinic: Digital, Behavioral, and Environmental Approaches to Chronic Skin Disease Management

Chronic skin diseases—including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, chronic urticaria, acne, vitiligo, hidradenitis suppurativa, and chronic wounds—affect a substantial proportion of the global population and impose a long-term burden on quality of life, mental health, and healthcare systems. While advances in targeted therapies and biologics have transformed clinical outcomes, real-world disease control still depends heavily on factors that extend well beyond the consultation room. Adherence, self-care behaviors, sleep, stress, diet, occupational and household exposures, climate, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, and the urban exposome all shape disease trajectory and treatment response. Yet these dimensions are often fragmented across specialties and rarely captured systematically in routine dermatologic care.

At the same time, digital health is reshaping how chronic skin conditions are monitored, diagnosed, and managed. Smartphone-based teledermatology, AI-assisted lesion assessment, wearable sensors for scratching and sleep, patient-reported outcome (PRO) apps, and clinician-facing decision-support tools driven by patient-reported symptoms are creating new opportunities to personalize care, support behavior change, and link clinical decisions to environmental and lifestyle context. Combining these digital capabilities with structured behavioral interventions (habit reversal, stress management, adherence coaching, lifestyle modification) and with environmental data (geolocated pollution, allergen, and climate exposures) opens a path toward a more preventive, mechanism-informed, and patient-centered model of chronic skin disease care

This Research Topic aims to bring together clinical, translational, behavioral, and data-driven studies that examine how digital health, behavioral interventions, and environmental exposures—individually and in combination—influence the onset, severity, and long-term management of chronic skin diseases. The objective is to advance the evidence base for scalable, real-world interventions that integrate seamlessly into dermatology workflows, empower patients in their daily lives, and account for the environmental contexts in which disease occurs. We particularly encourage contributions that bridge disciplines, validate tools in diverse populations, and translate insights into actionable clinical and public health strategies.

We welcome submissions on, but are not limited to, the following themes::
o Digital health platforms, mobile apps, and wearables for monitoring and managing chronic skin diseases
o Teledermatology and AI-assisted diagnosis, triage, and disease severity assessment
o Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and symptom-driven, clinician-facing decision-support tools in dermatology
o Behavioral interventions for adherence, itch–scratch cycles, sleep, stress, and lifestyle modification
o Psychodermatology and digitally delivered psychological interventions (e.g., CBT, mindfulness)
o Impact of air pollution, climate change, UV exposure, and the urban exposome on chronic skin diseases
o Occupational, household, and allergen exposures in disease onset, flares, and progression
o Diet, microbiome, and lifestyle factors as modifiable determinants of chronic skin disease
o Real-world evidence and remote monitoring studies in atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, urticaria, acne, vitiligo, hidradenitis suppurativa, and chronic wounds
o Equity, accessibility, and implementation of digital and behavioral interventions across diverse populations
o Integration of environmental, behavioral, and clinical data for personalized dermatologic care
o Health-economic and quality-of-life outcomes of digital and behavioral interventions in chronic skin disease

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Chronic inflammatory skin diseases, Digital health and teledermatology, Environmental exposome, Behavioral interventions, Patient-reported outcomes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.