The association of atopic dermatitis (AD) with anxiety and depression

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD), a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that may persist into adulthood, is associated with intense itching and a high incidence of sleep disturbances [1, 2]. The worldwide prevalence of AD is 15-20% among children [3] and 1-3% among adults. Psychological distress is a common comorbidity associated with atopic dermatitis and can negatively impact the quality of life [4]. Previous large-scale population-based studies have identified an association between AD and psychiatric illness [5–8]. Children with AD in the United States had a significantly higher prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, depression, anxiety, behavioural disorders, and autism) than children without AD [5]. Other authors [6] found that Taiwanese patients with AD had an increased risk of developing the major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders. And also, depressive symptoms were significantly higher in patients with AD than in the control group [7, 8].This study aimed to evaluate the association of AD with anxiety and depression using a data mining approach to match patients with AD with controls by sex and age.