Allergy.  1995 Dec;15(4):639-649.

The prevalence and clinical features of atopic dermatitis in kindergarten children in Puchon city, Kyonggi -Do

• Kim JW
• Lee WC
• Lee SC
• Byun DG

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis(AD) is a common skin disease of childhood and tends to increase significantly during recent decades, but informations regarding the exact prevalence of AD, based on the large-scale general population study, are unavailable in Korea. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the exact prevalence of AD and to evaluate the diagnostic significance of some well-known minor clinical features associated with AD in the kindergarten children in one of Korean cities, Puchon, Kyunggi-do. Nine hundred and twenty five kindergarten children(boys; 483, girls; 442) participated in this study. Two dermatologists determined the presence of skin lesions by through skin examination. Diagnosis of AD was made only when typical flexural and/or extensor and/or earlobe eczema exist. The frequency as well as their diagnostic significance of ten minor features of AD(xerosis, ichthyosiform skin lesion, hyperlinear palm, keratosis pilaris, non-specific hand/foot dermatitis, cheihtis, nipple eczema, perifollicular accentuation, pityriasis alba, Dennie-Morgan infraorbital fold), thought suitable items for field survey by authors, were also evaluated. The total prevalence of AD in the kindergarten children of Puchon city was 6.16%. The prevalence in boys was 5.79% and that in girls was 6.56%. Associated minor features in individuals diagnosed as having AD were, in order of frequency, xerosis(38.59 %). perifollicular accentuation(26.31% ), keratosis pilaris( 14.03 % ), pityriasis alba(12.28%), Denni-Morgan infraorbital fold(12.28%), etc. All but the keratosis pilaris, Denni-Morgan infraorbital fold and nipple eczema were significantly more frequent in individuals diagnosed as having AD (P<0.01). Further studies are needed for accurate estimation of the prevalence of AD in Korea including different regional and age population.

MeSH Terms

Child*
Dermatitis
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Diagnosis
Eczema
Female
Gyeonggi-do*
Humans
Keratosis
Korea
Nipples
Pityriasis
Prevalence*
Skin
Skin Diseases