Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar;33(3):588-594.
doi: 10.1111/jdv.15360. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

Diagnosis validation and clinical characterization of atopic dermatitis in Nurses' Health Study 2

A M Drucker  1   2   3 , E Cho  3   4   5 , W-Q Li  3   4 , C A Camargo Jr  5   6   7 , T Li  3   5 , A A Qureshi  3   4   5   8
Affiliations

Diagnosis validation and clinical characterization of atopic dermatitis in Nurses' Health Study 2

A M Drucker et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Epidemiologic studies of atopic dermatitis (AD) are often limited by case definitions that have not been validated.

Objective: In this study, we assessed the accuracy of self-report of AD in a large cohort of US female nurses, the Nurses' Health Study 2 (NHS2). We also provide clinical characteristics of AD in the cohort.

Methods: We sent an electronic questionnaire to NHS2 participants who previously reported ever having a diagnosis of AD. This questionnaire was designed to confirm cases of AD using previously validated algorithms with >85% specificity. We assessed the association of AD with asthma, comparing the results when different definitions of AD were applied. We also inquired about various aspects of participants' AD.

Results: Responses were received from 2509 of 5126 (49%) nurses who were sent the questionnaire, with an average age of 62. Most participants (1996/2509, 80%) reiterated their previously reported clinician diagnosis of AD. Application of the two diagnostic algorithms yielded confirmation of 1538 and 1293 prevalent cases, respectively. The association of AD with asthma was stronger when more stringent AD case definitions were applied. Participants generally reported mild disease (92% with ≤10% maximal body surface area involved) and a high proportion (57%) reported adult-onset disease.

Conclusions: Self-report of AD diagnosis has good reliability, and future analyses will be strengthened by our ability to conduct sensitivity analyses with refined confirmed AD subgroups.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

None of direct relevance to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of Nurses’ Health Study 2 respondents reporting a history of atopic dermatitis and completing the Atopic Dermatitis Screening and Evaluation Questionnaire 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age of participants (a) at atopic dermatitis diagnosis (n=1,967), (b) when atopic dermatitis was at its worst (n=1,708) and (c) when atopic dermatitis was last active (n=1,969).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age of participants (a) at atopic dermatitis diagnosis (n=1,967), (b) when atopic dermatitis was at its worst (n=1,708) and (c) when atopic dermatitis was last active (n=1,969).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age of participants (a) at atopic dermatitis diagnosis (n=1,967), (b) when atopic dermatitis was at its worst (n=1,708) and (c) when atopic dermatitis was last active (n=1,969).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abuabara K, Hoffstad O, Troxel A et al. Atopic dermatitis disease control and age: A cohort study. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2015; 136: 190–2 e3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abuabara K, Yu AM, Okhovat JP et al. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis beyond childhood: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Allergy 2017. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Margolis JS, Abuabara K, Bilker W et al. Persistence of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis. JAMA dermatology 2014; 150: 593–600. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Silverberg JI, Hanifin JM. Adult eczema prevalence and associations with asthma and other health and demographic factors: a US population-based study. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2013; 132: 1132–8. - PubMed
    1. Su VY, Chen TJ, Yeh CM et al. Atopic dermatitis and risk of ischemic stroke: a nationwide population-based study. Ann Med 2014; 46: 84–9. - PubMed

MeSH terms