Prevalence of Atopic Eczema Among Patients Seen in Primary Care: Data From The Health Improvement Network

Letters5 March 2019Prevalence of Atopic Eczema Among Patients Seen in Primary Care: Data From The Health Improvement NetworkKatrina Abuabara, MD, MA, MSCE*, Alexa Magyari, BA*, Charles E. McCulloch, PhD, Eleni Linos, MD, PhD, David J. Margolis, MD, PhD, and Sinéad M. Langan, MSc, PhDKatrina Abuabara, MD, MA, MSCE*University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (K.A., A.M., C.E.M., E.L.), Alexa Magyari, BA*University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (K.A., A.M., C.E.M., E.L.), Charles E. McCulloch, PhDUniversity of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (K.A., A.M., C.E.M., E.L.), Eleni Linos, MD, PhDUniversity of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (K.A., A.M., C.E.M., E.L.), David J. Margolis, MD, PhDPerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (D.J.M.), and Sinéad M. Langan, MSc, PhDLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom (S.M.L.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M18-2246 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Background: Atopic eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis, or simply eczema) was traditionally considered to remit in most children by adolescence. However, increasing genetic and epidemiologic evidence suggests that it is an episodic, inflammatory disorder that can occur throughout life (1). Atopic eczema affects between 10% and 25% of children in industrialized countries, but relatively little is known about physician-diagnosed adult disease (2).Objective: To estimate the age-specific prevalence of active atopic eczema across the lifespan in a large primary care population.Methods and Findings: We analyzed data between 1994 and 2013 from The Health Improvement Network. This U.K. cohort ...References1. Brunner PM, Silverberg JI, Guttman-Yassky E, Paller AS, Kabashima K, Amagai M, et al; Councilors of the International Eczema Council. Increasing comorbidities suggest that atopic dermatitis is a systemic disorder. J Invest Dermatol. 2017;137:18-25. [PMID: 27771048] doi:10.1016/j.jid.2016.08.022 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Odhiambo JA, Williams HC, Clayton TO, Robertson CF, Asher MI; ISAAC Phase Three Study Group. Global variations in prevalence of eczema symptoms in children from ISAAC Phase Three. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009;124:1251-8. [PMID: 20004783] doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2009.10.009 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Blak BT, Thompson M, Dattani H, Bourke A. Generalisability of The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database: demographics, chronic disease prevalence and mortality rates. Inform Prim Care. 2011;19:251-5. [PMID: 22828580] MedlineGoogle Scholar4. Abuabara K, Magyari AM, Hoffstad O, Jabbar-Lopez ZK, Smeeth L, Williams HC, et al. Development and validation of an algorithm to accurately identify atopic eczema patients in primary care electronic health records from the UK. J Invest Dermatol. 2017;137:1655-62. [PMID: 28428130] doi:10.1016/j.jid.2017.03.029 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Silverberg JI, Hanifin JM. Adult eczema prevalence and associations with asthma and other health and demographic factors: a US population-based study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013;132:1132-8. [PMID: 24094544] doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2013.08.031 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (K.A., A.M., C.E.M., E.L.)Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (D.J.M.)London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom (S.M.L.)Financial Support: By grants from the Dermatology Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Dr. Abuabara); grants KL2TR001870 (Drs. Abuabara and McCulloch) and K76AG054631, R21CA212201, and DP2CA225433 (Dr. Linos) from the National Institutes of Health; and a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellowship in Science (205039/Z/16/Z; Dr. Langan).Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-2246.Reproducible Research Statement:Study protocol: Not available. Statistical code: Available from Dr. Abuabara (e-mail, katrina.[email protected]edu). Data set: Available for purchase at www.iqvia.com/locations/uk-and-ireland/thin.This article was published at Annals.org on 4 December 2018.* Dr. Abuabara and Ms. Magyari contributed equally to this work. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byEffect of acupuncture in eczema: An overview of systematic reviewsWhat do professional cleaners know about the skin care? 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