Patients with both asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD) are at a higher risk of hospitalization than patients with only one of the conditions.
These findings come from a Danish study published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
For this study, the investigators looked at all records of patients with a hospital diagnosis of AD (11,590), asthma (65,539), or concomitant AD and asthma (819) in the Danish national patient registries.
The researchers assessed healthcare utilization data at three-month intervals from two years before to five years after the date of each patient’s first hospital diagnosis.
They found that adults with concomitant AD and asthma had a higher risk of hospitalization for AD (Odds ratio (OR) 1.38, 95% Confidence interval (CI) (1.15–1.67), p=0.001) and asthma (OR 1.16, 95% CI (1.00–1.35), p=0.047) compared to patients with only AD and asthma, respectively.
Patients with both conditions also had fewer visits to outpatient clinics for AD (OR 0.10, 95% CI (0.08–0.12), p<0.001) and asthma (OR 0.34, 95% CI (0.29–0.39), p<0.001) compared to patients with only AD or asthma. Those with both asthma and AD had more outpatient clinic visits for rhinitis as well.
“Adults with concomitant AD and asthma had different patterns of healthcare utilization compared to adults with AD or asthma alone, suggesting that improvements in management and monitoring may reduce unscheduled healthcare visits and lower healthcare costs,” the authors conclude.