Prevalence of asthma in patients with atopic dermatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

<bold>Background: </bold>It is well established that asthma is common in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).<bold>Objectives: </bold>We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms in individuals with AD as well as the association between AD and asthma.<bold>Methods: </bold>At least 2 authors independently searched the medical databases PubMed, EMBASE, LILACS, and SCOPUS for all English-language studies with data on asthma prevalence among patients with AD or the association between AD and asthma. Pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and pooled proportions were estimated with random-effects models. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess study quality.<bold>Results: </bold>The search yielded 39,503 articles. Of these, 213 studies were included in a quantitative analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of asthma was 25.7% (95% CI, 23.7-27.7) in patients with AD and 8.1% (95% CI, 7.0-9.4) among reference individuals. There was a significant association between AD and asthma when compared with reference individuals (odds ratio, 3.03; 95% CI, 2.64-3.47).<bold>Limitations: </bold>The definitions of AD and asthma differed across the included studies and varied from self-report to physician diagnosed.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Asthma is a common comorbidity of AD. Physicians should be cognizant of this relationship and address asthma symptoms in their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]