Assessing patients’ characteristics and treatment patterns among children with atopic dermatitis

Abstract Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common immune-mediated skin disease in childhood. Several treatment options for pediatric AD, both topical and systemic, are currently available. We carried out a single-center observational study with the aim of describing characteristics and treatment patterns in pediatric AD patients. Methods The study included 867 patients aged ≤16 years (females 50.5%, mean patient’s age 5.9 years, standard deviation ±3.6 years) with a previous doctor-confirmed diagnosis of AD who underwent balneotherapy at the Comano Thermal Spring Water Center (Comano, Trentino, Italy) from April to October 2014. Results Among the patients included in the study, 41.2% had mild (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis, SCORAD 0-15), 43.6% moderate (SCORAD 16–40) and 15.2% severe AD (SCORAD > 40). A higher occurrence of reported food allergy was observed among children with more severe AD ( p