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High Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis among US Adults

As many as 16.5 million adults in America suffer from a skin disease known as atopic dermatitis (AD), an inflammatory disease that results in red, itchy skin. The estimate comes from a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which also projected 6.6 million of these adults have disease that would be classified as moderate to severe, leading to a decrease in quality of life. Researchers published the findings in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

According to the study’s lead author Zelma C. Chiesa Fuxench, an assistant professor of dermatology at Penn, “Our findings show this disease affects 7% of the population, far more than other inflammatory conditions like psoriasis, which only affects about 3%. Yet psoriasis has eight biologic treatments available for patients, whereas atopic dermatitis only has one that’s approved.” Researchers surveyed 1,278 adults sampled from the GfK Knowledge Panel, a probability-based online panel that is thought to be representative of the US adult population. Among those respondents, 7.3% met the criteria for diagnosis of AD. Of these, 60% were classified as mild, 29% as moderate, and 11% as severe. Researchers used US census population data to project that 16.5 million American adults are living with AD, with 6.6 million of those cases being moderate-to-severe. Patients with AD and those with more severe disease also had higher scores in other patient-reported outcome measures, including the Dermatology Life Quality Index, indicating a worse impact on quality of life and an increased likelihood of anxiety or depression as measures by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

“These findings show a disconnect between the prevalence of this disease and its impact on patient quality of life compared to the resources being dedicated to developing systemic therapies,” said Dr. Fuxench.

Dr. Fuxench says the numbers also hint at larger questions about this population, including whether they developed the condition as they got older or whether they had it as children and stopped seeking treatment at some point during their lives due to unhappiness with or poor response to currently available therapies. Many patients, she notes, are told they will grow out of the disease, but these data suggest that may not be the case, and that the disease may change over time. She also notes the medical and social impact of AD can also lead to a financial impact for many patients.

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