Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2016 Jan;8(1):79-83. 10.4168/aair.2016.8.1.79.

Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis in Korean Children Based on Data From the 2008-2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

• Lee JH
• Han KD
• Kim KM
• Park YG
• Lee JY
• Park YM

• KMID: 2166657
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aair.2016.8.1.79

Abstract

Population-based studies of atopic dermatitis (AD) in Korean children are lacking. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, geographic distribution, and risk factors of AD in the Korean pediatric population. We examined AD prevalence using data from the 2008-2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which was a cross-sectional survey of 8,947 children up to age 18 throughout the country. Overall, 13.50% of children reported a diagnosis of AD. The age-standardized prevalence ranged from 9.13% to 17.67% between cities and provinces, with the highest prevalence-observed in many of the larger cities at low latitudes, as well as Jeju-do. After adjusting for confounders, high economic status was found to be a significant factor for predicting increased prevalence of AD, with an odds ratio of 1.35 (95% confidence interval of 1.02-1.79, P=0.0034). Urban living (odds ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval of 1.00-1.53, P=0.0526) was also associated with a higher prevalence of AD. In this first large scale, nationwide study in Korean children, we found that the overall prevalence of AD depends on age, household income, and geographic distribution.

Keyword

Atopic dermatitis; Korean; child; prevalence

MeSH Terms

Child*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Diagnosis
Family Characteristics
Humans
Jeju-do
Korea
Nutrition Surveys*
Odds Ratio
Prevalence*
Risk Factors

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Age-adjusted prevalence of AD in Korean children according to age. Data are from the 2008-2011 KNHANES.

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  Fig. 2 Age-adjusted prevalence of AD in Korean children according to place of residence. Data are from the 2008-2011 KNHANES.

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