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Children’s atopic dermatitis symptoms persisted into second decade of life, often longer

Symptoms associated with atopic dermatitis appeared to persist into the second decade of children’s lives and possibly longer, making it a probable lifelong illness, according to recent study results.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of 7,157 children with atopic dermatitis (AD; mean age at onset, 1.7 years; mean age at study enrollment, 7.4 years; 53.11% female) who were enrolled in the nationwide, long-term Pediatric Eczema Elective Registry (PEER). Self-reports of whether a child’s skin was AD symptom-free for 6 months at 6-month intervals were used as main outcomes.

Patients were enrolled in the study for 22,550 person-years. There were at least 2 years of follow-up for 4,248 children and a minimum of 5 years for 2,416 patients.

More persistent AD was associated with multiple demographics and exposure variables. More than 80% of the PEER participants aged 2 to 26 years had AD symptoms or were using medications to treat the condition.

Fifty percent of patients were aged at least 20 years before they had at least one 6-month symptom- and treatment-free period, the investigators determined.

“It is probable that AD does not fully resolve in most children with mild to moderate symptoms,” the researchers concluded. “Physicians who treat children with mild to moderate AD should tell children and their caregivers that AD is a lifelong illness with periods of waxing and waning skin problems.”

Disclosure: Researchers report the PEER study was funded by a grant from Valeant Pharmaceuticals.