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Pediatric atopic dermatitis potentially associated with central obesity, increased BP

Moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis was found to have a potential association with central obesity and increased blood pressure in children and adolescents, according to recently published study results.

Jonathan I. Silverberg, MD, PhD, MPH, and colleagues studied 132 patients with active moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) and 143 controls recruited from seven U.S. dermatology referral centers between April 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2012. Although the patients with AD were significantly younger than the controls, they were matched with respect to sex and race. BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, systolic blood pressure (BP) and diastolic BP were the study’s main outcomes and measures.

Jonathan I. Silverberg

Results demonstrated moderate-to-severe AD had associations with BMI for age and sex in the 97th percentile or greater, International Obesity Task Force obesity cutoffs, waist circumference (WC) in the 85th percentile or greater and a waist-to-height ratio of 0.5 or greater, according to the researchers.

Higher BP for age, sex and height percentiles were also associated with AD. Additionally, through the use of multivariate models, the researchers found AD was particularly associated with a systolic BP in the 90^th percentile or higher.

Hispanic/Latino and Asian patients had AD associated with higher systolic BP. Patients with a family history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes but not obesity or hyperlipidemia also had an association with AD, according to the researchers.

Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.