Characterization of Pediatric Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis is a disease that occurs most frequently during infancy and early childhood. It is globally distributed and has a very high prevalence in developed countries, which is why it has become a public health priority. In Cuba, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of pediatric cases diagnosed with this disease.

Objective: To determine the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients diagnosed with atopic dermatitis.

Methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted at San Miguel del Padrón Pediatric Teaching Hospital. The universe consisted of 189 patients, and the sample consisted of 115 who met the established inclusion criteria. Proprietary statistical methods were used for qualitative variables such as absolute numbers and percentages. To identify possible association between the variables, the non-parametric chi-squared test and a significance level of α = 0.05 were used.

Results: Male patients (55.7%) predominated over female patients (44.3%). The most frequent age group was between 3 and 10 years old (46.9%), followed by those between 2 months and 2 years old (38.3%). White skin color predominated (49.6%), followed by mix-raced (40%). Most of them had moderate to severe disease involvement.

Conclusions: Significant associations were found between personal and family pathological history of atopy in pediatric patients with the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis. The morphology and location of the lesions corresponded to the stage of atopic dermatitis in which the patients were. Psychological alterations were found in more than half of the patients, and the most frequent were states of anxiety, tension and depression.