Allergic-related skin diseases: Global disease burden from 1990 to 2021 and future trends.

BACKGROUND

Allergic-related skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), urticaria, and contact dermatitis (CD), are significant global public health challenges. Currently, there is a lack of systematic analysis of allergic-related skin diseases globally.

METHODS

This study aimed to quantify the global burden of AD, CD, and urticaria and evaluate their global epidemiology patterns. The Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) database was used to assess incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for these allergic-related skin diseases. Additionally, the Bayesian Age-Period-Cohort (BAPC) model was employed to predict disease burden for the next 15 years.

RESULTS

From 1990 to 2021, cases of AD, CD, and urticaria rose steadily. In 2021, AD prevalence reached 129 million, a 20.02% increase from 1990. However, average annual percentage change (AAPC) values for the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) of AD declined constantly (AAPC = -0.28). CD had the highest incidence, with 253 million new cases in 2021, though AAPC for ASPR of CD showed minimal changes. AD and urticaria peaked in early life, while CD peaked at ages 75-79. Moreover, AD had the strongest positive correlation with the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) ( = 2.2e-16, ρ = 0.626). AD, CD, and urticaria show the highest age-standardized rate in high, middle, and low-middle SDI regions, respectively, with all 3 conditions declining in high SDI. Health inequality analysis showed AD's burden is now more evenly distributed across SDI groups, while the global burden gap for urticaria and CD change limitedly.

CONCLUSION

Although the global disease burden of allergic-related skin diseases continues to rise, the overall age-standardized rates of AD have steadily declined and are projected to decrease further. In contrast, CD and urticaria require increased attention.