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Minority children with AD experience disparities in health care, school attendance
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Racial and ethnic minority children experienced disparities in health care utilization and school attendance related to their atopic dermatitis, according to late-breaking research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.
“Compared to white children with atopic dermatitis, black children are less likely to see a dermatologist, and black and Hispanic children are more likely to go to the [ED] for their atopic dermatitis,” Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, MSCE, told Healio.com/Dermatology.
Takeshita, an assistant professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, added that racial/ethnic minority children are more likely to miss school due to their atopic dermatitis (AD).
Takeshita and colleagues used data from the Pediatric Eczema Elective Registry to study 7,901 children with AD and determine associations between race/ethnicity and health care utilization by visit type and any school missed due to AD within 6 months of enrollment.
Relationship between each outcome and race/ethnicity, with a reference group being white patients, adjusted for age, gender, household income, atopic comorbidities and AD severity, were determined by multivariable logistic regression. Mediator analysis also was used in the study.
The researchers found that black children (OR = 2.27; 95% CI, 1.62-3.17) and Hispanic children (OR = 3.07; 95% CI, 2.02-4.66) were more likely than white children to have visited the ED for AD. Black children also were less likely than the other races/ethnicities to have seen a dermatologist (OR = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.55-0.72).
Missing school due to AD was more likely among blacks (OR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.15-1.56), Hispanics (OR = 1.84; 1.48-2.28) and Asians (OR = 3.6; 95% CI, 2.6-4.98).
“Our results suggest disparities in specialty and urgent care for AD and greater negative impact on school attendance among racial/ethnic minorities with AD, independent of disease severity,” Takeshita and colleagues concluded. – by Bruce Thiel
Reference:
Takeshita J et al. Late-Breaking Research Forum, Clinical Studies/Pediatric. Racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare utilization and school attendance among children with atopic dermatitis: a cross-sectional analysis of the Pediatric Eczema Elective Registry. Presented at: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; March 3-7, Orlando.
Disclosure: Valeant Pharmaceuticals International sponsored the Pediatric Eczema Elective Registry, which was the data source for the study.