Ocular Surface DIsorders More Common in Those with Atopic Dermatitis, Research Says

A combination of systemic and local effects can give atopic dermatitis patients a higher likelihood of ocular surface disease. Photo: Jambula/Wikimedia Commons. Click image to enlarge. Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) showed a higher prevalence of ocular surface disorders (OSDs) than those without it, according to a new cross-sectional study. Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a skin condition that causes patches of dry, itchy and flaky skin. It can occur anywhere on the body, including the eyelids and much of the face.Researchers analyzed claims data from a large healthcare database of US patients. In their paper for BMC Ophthalmology, they made note of two objectives for the study: (1) estimate OSD prevalence among AD patients in a real-world setting and (2) evaluate healthcare resource utilization among AD patients. Subjects were then divided into groups based on duration of atopic dermatitis; either a continuous 18 months (group 1) or greater than that (group 2).Group one  consisted of 11,393,284 individuals, of whom 79,761 had AD. Participants averaged 50 years of age and were 52% female. Within this group, 16.9% of AD patients had OSD and 9.5% did not. Rates of OSD peaked among children aged five years or younger, and other severe OSD cases and related complications also appeared more often in the atopic dermatitis group. The most common ocular surface disease was conjunctivitis.For the second group (i.e., disease duration beyond 18 months) researchers evaluated healthcare resource utilization among 325,979 patients. This cohort averaged 39.9 years old with a 56.9% female cohort. A total of 17.5% of patients in this group had at least one OSD-related claim during one year. The similarity between the two results—16.9% and 17.5%—”adds credence to the results,” the authors wrote in their paper.Patients who had an ocular surface disorder before their atopic dermatitis diagnosis displayed a higher amount of “all-cause” resource use “during one-year follow-up than those without an OSD during baseline,” primarily through pharmacy claims and outpatient visits. The approach highlighted the unique care needs of atopic dermatitis patients who also suffer from ocular surface disorders, especially young children, and in what ways they seek out medical attention when required, providing practitioners with common patient approaches to their optometric problems and allowing them to guide patients in the right direction in the future.Click here for the journal source. Asbell P, Akpek EK, Merola JF, et al. Atopic dermatitis and ocular surface disorders: a United States claims-based cross-sectional study. BMC Ophthalmol. [Epub ahead of print]. This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.