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. 2022 May 6;17(5):e0268204.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268204. eCollection 2022.

Association of the incidence of atopic dermatitis until 3 years old with climate conditions in the first 6 months of life: Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)

Hiroshi Yokomichi  1 , Mie Mochizuki  2 , Ryoji Shinohara  3 , Megumi Kushima  3 , Sayaka Horiuchi  3 , Reiji Kojima  1 , Tadao Ooka  1 , Yuka Akiyama  1 , Kunio Miyake  1 , Sanae Otawa  3 , Zentaro Yamagata  1   3 ; Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group
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Association of the incidence of atopic dermatitis until 3 years old with climate conditions in the first 6 months of life: Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)

Hiroshi Yokomichi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine the climate conditions that affect the incidence of atopic dermatitis from infancy to 3 years old.

Study design: We analyzed 100,303 children born from 2011 to 2014 for follow-up until 3 years old using cohort data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study. The study included 15 Regional Centers, including 19 prefectures across Japan. We used meteorological data of the Japan Meteorological Agency. We calculated the hazard ratio (HR) of the standard deviation and low vs. high mean values of several climate conditions in children in their first 6 months of life to determine the incidence of atopic dermatitis.

Results: The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that children born in the months of October to December had the highest incidence of atopic dermatitis. Among climate conditions, a one standard deviation increase in the temperature (HR = 0.87), minimum temperature (HR = 0.87), and vapor pressure (HR = 0.87) showed the lowest HRs for the incidence of atopic dermatitis. These results were confirmed by an analysis by strata of the birth season. A low vapor pressure (HR = 1.26, p<0.0001) and the combination of a low mean temperature or low mean minimum temperature and low vapor pressure (HR = 1.26, p<0.0001) were associated with the highest incidence of atopic dermatitis. These results were consistent when they were adjusted for a maternal and paternal history of allergy and the prefecture of birth.

Conclusion: Among climate conditions, a low vapor pressure is the most strongly associated with a high incidence of atopic dermatitis. Measuring vapor pressure may be useful for preventing atopic dermatitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Birth season and the incidence of atopic dermatitis up to 3 years of age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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