Epidemiological profile and clinical pattern of atopic dermatitis in South Indian teaching hospital

• Author Details:   
• Ashwini Venkata Swamy ^*
• Surendran K.A.K
• Nanjundaswamy B.L
• Bangaru H

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Introduction: Atopic dermatitis is an itchy, chronic or chronically relapsing inflammatory skin condition, posing a significant burden on health-care resources and patients' quality of life, affecting 15-20% of children and 1-3% of adults worldwide. It is a complex disease with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations and combinations of symptoms.
Objective: 1. To determine the prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in south India, 2. To study the various patterns of clinical manifestations of atopic dermatitis
Materials and Methods: A prospective, descriptive study conducted from January 2014 to June 2015. The study population included 100 atopic dermatitis patients attending the Out Patient Department of Dermatology of Tertiary care centre in south India
Results: Prevalence of AD was 0.58%. 49% of patients were in the age group of 0-1 year. Male: Female ratio was 1.3:1. 52% of patients belonged to middle socio economic class, 76% of patients were from Urban area. Personal and family history of atopy were noted in 66% and 56% of cases respectively. 60% of patients gave history of seasonal variation of their symptoms The most common site of involvement was face (72%), all 100 cases had pruritus – one of the major criteria, xerosis – one of the minor criteria, was present in 99% of cases. 67% of patients had mild disease.
Conclusion: This study throws light upon epidemiological data of atopic dermatitis in southern part of India. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis remains low in South India compared to developed countries and disease manifestation is mild in Indian patients.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis, Epidemiology, Clinical pattern, SCORAD.