Increased Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis in Young Children Born from 2000 to 2009 in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Ching-Huang Su ； Chian-Heng Su ； Chi-Feng Hsieh ； Yao-Chun Hsu ； Ching-Chung Tsai ； Yu-Cheng Tsai ； Yu-Tsun Su

《E-Da Medical Journal》 6卷4期 (2019/12) Pp. 1-7

https://doi.org/10.6966/EDMJ.201912_6(4).0001

摘要

Objective: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic disease in young children and a major socio-economic burden worldwide. However, longitudinal prevalence data based on physician-diagnosed AD in recent years are scant. We aim to study the trend of prevalence of pediatric AD in Taiwan based on physicians' diagnosis. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Infants and one-year-old children with physician-diagnosed AD were enrolled. The cases were defined according to loose criteria of one outpatient visit and strict criteria of at least three outpatient visits with the diagnosis of AD (ICD-9). We calculated the prevalence of AD in first two years of life in children born from 2000 to 2009. Results: There were between 13,705 and 8,275 neonates born in each year from 2000 and 2009. From 2000 to 2009, the one-year prevalence of AD in the first year of life increased from 6.37% to 16.1% according to the loose criteria, and from 0.81% to 2.82% according to the strict criteria. In the second year of life, the prevalence increased from 3.46% to 6.9% according to the loose criteria and from 0.9% to 3.02% according to the strict criteria. The trend of one-year prevalence increased in children born from 2000 to 2009 in the first year of life with R^2 values of 0.9564 (p ＜ 0.0001) and 0.9292 (p ＜ 0.0001), and in the second year of life with R^2 values of 0.8339 (p = 0.0002) and 0.9201 (p ＜ 0.0001) according to the loose and strict criteria, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of physician-diagnosed AD continuously increased in Taiwan in the first and second year of life in children born from 2000 to 2009. This trend represents the continuously increasing burden of AD on the healthcare system in Taiwan.

關鍵字

atopic dermatitis ； prevalence ； pediatric ； NHIRD