Dementia risk slightly increased in older patients with atopic eczema

A small increase in dementia incidence was found in older patients with atopic eczema, according to a study.

“Chronic inflammation has emerged as an important predictor and mechanism involved in the onset and progression of the neuropathological changes observed in dementia,” Alexa Magyari, MS, of the University of California Berkley School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Studies have found links between other chronic inflammatory conditions and dementia, but little is known about the role of atopic eczema, which is now recognized to affect a large proportion of older adults.”

Researchers conducted a longitudinal cohort study on electronic health record data, which included patients aged 60 to 100 years who had no history of prior dementia diagnoses. A validated algorithm using medical codes and prescriptions was used to identify those with active atopic eczema. Previously validated medical codes were used to identify new diagnoses of dementia during follow-up.

More than 1.7 million subjects were included, of which 57,263 were diagnosed with dementia over 12,618,801 person-years of follow up (incidence rate, 45/10,000 person-years). Atopic eczema was diagnosed among 213,444 (12%) of subjects diagnosed with dementia. Of these, the diagnostic criteria for atopic eczema before the start of follow-up was met by 94,926 subjects; 118,518 met the criteria during follow-up.

Among those with atopic eczema, the incidence of dementia was 57/10,000 person-years (95% CI, 56-59), compared with 44/10,000 person-years (95% CI, 44-45) in those without eczema.

An overall increased risk of dementia of 27% was recorded in those with atopic eczema after adjusting for potential confounders.

“Patients with atopic eczema in a large, population-based primary care cohort had a small increased risk of incident dementia,” the authors wrote. “Atopic eczema is common among older adults, therefore future work should investigate the impact of screening atopic eczema patients for cognitive impairment in older adulthood.”