Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, South Korea.
Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 10;12(1):13626. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17222-y.
The phenotypes of atopic dermatitis (AD) are diverse, and ethnic differences have been suggested. To date, few studies have explored large-scale national data on the treatment patterns of AD in Asians. Therefore, we aimed to examine real-world treatment patterns for AD, including the probability of discontinuation of AD treatment and restart after discontinuation. A retrospective observational study was conducted using the nationwide healthcare database in South Korea between January 1, 2016 to July 31, 2020. We identified 944,559 pediatric patients and 1,066,453 adults with AD. Topical corticosteroids and antihistamines were the most commonly prescribed medications in all age groups. The frequency of topical corticosteroid prescription decreased as the age increased. Although immunosuppressive drugs were not widely used in both children and adults, cyclosporine was the most frequently prescribed immunosuppressant, particularly among those aged 12 years or more (1-2%). Pediatric patients were more likely to discontinue treatment than adult patients. Treatment restart for moderate-to-severe AD was earlier than that for overall AD. In conclusion, significant differences were observed in the treatment patterns of AD between pediatric and adult patients. These findings will improve our understanding of the latest treatment patterns for AD, which may contribute to decision-making in clinical practice.
特应性皮炎（AD）的表型多种多样，且存在种族差异。迄今为止，很少有研究探讨亚洲人群 AD 的治疗模式的大规模国家数据。因此，我们旨在研究 AD 的真实世界治疗模式，包括 AD 治疗中断后的停药和再治疗的概率。本回顾性观察性研究使用了韩国 2016 年 1 月 1 日至 2020 年 7 月 31 日期间的全国医疗保健数据库。我们确定了 944559 名儿科患者和 1066453 名成年 AD 患者。在所有年龄组中，局部皮质类固醇和抗组胺药是最常开的药物。局部皮质类固醇的处方频率随年龄的增加而降低。尽管免疫抑制剂在儿童和成人中均未广泛使用，但环孢素是最常开的免疫抑制剂，尤其是在 12 岁及以上的人群中（1-2%）。儿科患者比成年患者更有可能停止治疗。中重度 AD 的治疗重启时间早于总体 AD。总之，在儿科和成年患者之间观察到 AD 的治疗模式存在显著差异。这些发现将有助于我们了解 AD 的最新治疗模式，从而为临床实践中的决策提供依据。
