Epidemiological features of preschool childhood Atopic dermatitis in incheon

Background: Atopie dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease with a genetic and environmental background. Recently, a marked rise in the prevalence of AD has been observed. Current epidemiological research is largely focused on identifying environmental factors associated with AD; however, little is known about the factors affecting the disease severity in Korean childhood AD. The city of Incheon is a large harbor city, notorious for air pollution caused mainly by industry and the yellow dust that blows in from China. The environmental peculiarities of Incheon may play a critical role in AD expression. Objective: We investigated the epidemiologic characteristics of preschool childhood AD patients and the correlation between environmental factors and its prevalence or severity in Incheon. Methods: This study was carried out among 2523 preschool children from May to July, 2007. It was based on a questionnaire covering their clinical manifestations, environment, and lifestyle. Two dermatologists examined the skin and evaluated the severity of AD using the SCORAD index. Results: The prevalence of AD among preschool children in Incheon was 18.8% (475 AD patients) which was higher than the overall prevalence in Korea (6.16∼11.2%). There were statistical differences in the SCORAD index between heavily industrialized areas and residential housing areas in Incheon (p=0.012). Conclusion: Theses results suggest that environmental factors may affect the prevalence and severity of atopic dermatitis.