Dermatological future of european patients with atopic dermatitis.

Background The dermatological becoming of children presenting with atopic dermatitis (AD) is not well known. Objective We performed a study on the presence of AD and other dermatological diseases in subjects with a previous history of AD. Methods An opinion poll was conducted in eight countries through a telephone interview: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Results Among 4369 interviewees, 12.25% declared a history of AD in infancy and 12.4% declared to suffer from a dermatological disease (27% of patients had a history of AD and 10.3% did not have it). Current declared cases of atopic eczema or contact eczema were more frequent in patients with previous history of AD (39.3% vs. 21.5%), whereas these patients appeared less affected by rosacea (2.9% vs. 7.9%). Some differences were observed between different countries. Conclusion The main interests of this study are the large number of subjects, originating from eight different countries, and its focus on the dermatological future of patients with AD, which is not limited to AD itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]