Carla Irani*, Souheil Hallit, Marilyn Karam, Candie Jammal, Valerie Jammal, Elias Nasr and Pascale Salemeh
Background: Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin condition. Incidence of AD has increased 2- to 3-fold in the western world, impacting approximately 15% to 20% of children and 1% to 3% of adults worldwide. Local epidemiologic data is scarce and limited to children or adolescents. Objective: The study aims to determine the prevalence of eczema among Lebanese adolescents and identify demographic and clinical characteristics associated with eczema.
Methods: This is retrospective study that includes patients of all ages who were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis in 2018 at a tertiary Allergy and Immunology center over the course of one year. Data were collected from medical records, including demographic characteristics, disease severity, treatment modalities, allergic comorbidities and sensitization profiles. Bivariate analyses were conducted to examine associations between AD severity and factors such as age, sex, medication use, comorbid conditions and allergen sensitization.
Results: Among 850 patients, 135 (15.88%) presented with AD as diagnosed clinically by the Allergy/Immunology specialist. The mean age of the participants was 21.50 ± 17.31 years, with 78 (58.2%) females, 71(52.5%) above age 13. Fifty-eight (43.3%) presented with mild disease and 76 (56.7%) with moderate-severe disease. The mean IgE level was 403.15 ± 626.32. All were treated according to the Task Force Practice Parameter. The results of the bivariate analysis of factors associated with the disease severity, showed that a higher percentage of children who had moderate-severe disease severity used topical steroids (89.6% vs. 10.4%) and topical immunosuppressors (87.5% vs. 12.5%), whereas a higher percentage of patients who had mild disease severity (61.4% vs. 38.6%) presented with asthma. A significantly higher percentage of older females (61.5% vs. 38.5%), age 13 years old or above had moderate-severe AD (60.5% vs. 39.5%), had dust mites’ sensitization (74.2 % vs. 25.8%). Patients aged≤ 12 years were more likely to have food allergy (68.0% vs. 32.0%) in particular cow’s milk sensitization (84.6% vs. 15.4%)
Conclusion: In our study, Atopic Dermatitis is found to be common in young adults. Its severity may be associated with dust mite’s sensitization in adolescents and adults and with food allergy in particular cow’s milk in younger age. Asthma was found to be present in mild disease.
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Journal of Dermatology and Dermatologic Diseases received 4 citations as per Google Scholar report
