The pattern of atopic dermatitis in a group of patients attending two private clinics in Erbil city

Abstract

Background and objective: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disease of the skin. It is a common disease that primarily affects young children. It results from complex interactions between genetic susceptibility genes. This study aimed to assess atopic dermatitis among the affected cases, mainly in terms of age and gender distribution, and its clinical and laboratory findings. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in two private clinics in Erbil city. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 70 study participants who were clinically examined by the investigator. A questionnaire was specially designed for interviewing these patients. The diagnosis was made on the clinical ground. Patients were also sent for blood investigations and a skin swab for microscopic examination. Results: The mean ± SD of the participants' age was 20.57 ± 17.94 years. Females constituted 68.6% of the participants. More than 64% of the patients had generalized body lesions, 54.3% had a positive family history of atopic dermatitis, and 48.5% had a history of other atopic diseases. The majority (58.3%) of those aging less than two years had face lesions while the majority (74.4%) of the patients aging more than 15 years had generalized body lesions, and this was statistically significant. Conclusion: Atopic dermatitis affects a wide age group, and different age categories have different sites of the lesion. Family history is a prominent feature of the disease. Clinically, lichenification is more among older age groups compared to the eczematous lesion, which is more among younger age groups.