Risk factors and temporal associations of progression of the atopic march in children with early-onset atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND

Risk factors and the temporal relationship between atopic dermatitis (AD) and atopic march remain understudied.

OBJECTIVE

Determine risk factors for atopic march in early-onset AD patients and the temporality between AD and atopic march.

METHODS

We used the MarketScan Research Database for our retrospective cohort analysis from 2010 to 2018, comparing infants diagnosed with AD before age 1 with controls without early-onset AD. Primary outcomes were hazard ratios (HRs) for the development of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergy.

RESULTS

Compared to 55,174 controls, higher proportions of the 27,228 AD patients developed asthma (19.21% vs 8.65%, P < .001), allergic rhinitis (28.27% vs 12.62%, P < .001), food allergy (16.00% vs 2.27%, P < .001), and all atopic triad conditions (10.69% vs 0.71%, P < .001). Among AD patients, higher proportions developed the atopic triad if they were male (HR 1.66, 95% confidence interval [1.45-1.90]), had severe disease (HR 3.16, [2.77-3.60]), or had family atopy history (HR > 3.40, P < .001 for all comparisons). Among AD patients, 20.1% developed allergic rhinitis.

LIMITATIONS

Our study was based on health care claims data.

CONCLUSION

Early-onset AD is associated with higher rates of developing atopic march conditions compared to controls. Particular attention should be paid toward risk factors and atopic march screening in early-onset AD patients.