Key clinical point: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with a higher likelihood of cognitive impairment symptoms involving difficulties in learning or memory, especially in children with neurodevelopmental comorbidities, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disability.
Major finding: A significantly greater number of children with vs without AD experienced difficulties with learning (10.8% vs 5.9%) and memory (11.1% vs 5.8%; both P < .001). However, this association was observed only in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (adjusted odds ratio 2.26; 95% CI 1.43-3.57) including ADHD or learning disabilities.
Study details: This cross-sectional study analyzed the data of 7957 children, representing a weighted total of 69,732,807 children without intellectual disabilities from the 2021 US National Health Interview Survey who did (n = 9,223,013) or did not (n = 60,509,794) have AD. The survey randomly selects 1 child per surveyed household for whom a parent or adult caregiver provides information.
Disclosures: This study was supported by a grant to Joy Wan from the US National Institutes of Health. Joy Wan also declared receiving a grant and personal fees from various pharmaceutical companies. The other authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Ma EZ, Chang HR, Radtke S, Wan J. Symptoms of cognitive impairment among children with atopic dermatitis. JAMA Dermatol. 2024 (Mar 6). doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2024.0015 Source