Vztah atopického ekzému a pozornosti

Abstract

PROBLEM: Atopic eczema is linked with several other psychosomatic diseases and disorders like sleeping disorders or low quality, chronic itching, etc. First, it is important to define two related terms that are important not to confuse, namely ADHD and ADD. Both of these attention disorders are inherited neurodevelopmental disorders. ADD is characterized by loss of concentration, distraction, and emotional hypersensitivity. ADHD is an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The survey study aims at describing the relation of two variables – atopic eczema and attention. Based on the results of the available studies dealing with the said relation, the topic will be presented to the reader and the existing pieces of knowledge will be summarized. METHODS: The study worked with sources from available scientific databases: PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus and Web of Science. The following key words were entered for search: atopic eczema, ADHD, ADD, attention, relation. Another criterion selected for search was the period of observation, which we set without determination; that decision was based on the fact that the topic in question is specific. The studies were selected based on their relevance for the goal set. 10 studies were analyzed in total. RESULTS: The analysis results show that studies dealing with the issue of the effect of atopic eczema can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of studies which state, based on research, that persons with diagnosed atopic eczema are endangered by attention disorders. While comparing them with healthy population, i.e., with persons without atopic eczema, it was found that persons with atopic eczema have higher proportional chance of attention disorders, and other health problems linked with the said disease, like low quality of sleep, anxieties, depressions or behaviour disorders were registered as well. The studies under analysis also mention a risk period that may be essential for the development of attention disorder. The other group consists of studies which did not demonstrate a direct causal relation between attention eczema and attention disorders, which, if demonstrated, could lead to setting of preventive and therapeutic plans. The results of some of these studies show the coexistence of atopic eczema and ADHD, but the authors state that both disorders may not have causal relation and that they may be influenced by other factors; they recommend other studies which could clarify the prevalence of ADHD in persons with atopic eczema. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In conclusion, it can be stated that there is a higher risk of attention disorder, ADHD, in individuals with atopic eczema. However, as studies show, a causal relation between the two variables in question has not been found yet. The results have also shown that this issue is still little explored, in spite of the fact that a number of studies had a large research set. Therefore, further extensive interdisciplinary studies are needed, in order to prove or disprove their mutual causal relation. In case of proving the causal relation, it is further recommended to proceed to determine preventive and therapeutic strategies for attention disorders caused by atopic eczema, in order to positively influence the resulting quality of life of the individuals with the said disorder type.