Children with atopic dermatitis (AD) may face elevated cardiovascular risk, but the jury is out on how severity and disease activity might influence this risk factor.
A study in JAMA Network Open aimed to close that knowledge gap. The longitudinal cohort study used data from 9,281 children, with the prevalence of active AD ranging from 13.1%-21.6% among participants ages 3-18 years. Among participants with AD, moderate or severe disease ranged from 3.52%-6.85% of the participant population.
Katrina Abuabara, MD, a dermatologist-researcher with the University of California, San Francisco, discussed the study and its findings with the Reading Room. The exchange has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the impetus for undertaking this study -- and its objective?
Abuabara: A number of studies have found that kids with chronic inflammatory diseases are at higher risk of later-life cardiovascular events.
