Key clinical point: Children with atopic dermatitis (AD) at age 3 years showed an increased subsequent risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC); however, atopic manifestations were not associated with IBD.
Major finding: The presence of AD at age 3 years significantly increased the risk for IBD (pooled adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.46; 95% CI 1.13-1.88), CD (pooled aHR 1.53; 95% CI 1.04-2.26), and UC (pooled aHR 1.78; 95% CI 1.15-2.75) later in life. Any atopic manifestation by age 3 years was not associated with IBD (pooled aHR 1.20; 95% CI 0.95-1.52).
Study details: This study included 83,311 children from the All Babies in Southeast Sweden (1997-1999) and the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child (1999-2008) birth cohorts with questionnaire-based prospectively collected parent-reported information on asthma, AD, etc., developed by 3 years of age who were followed up from birth until 2021 or a diagnosis of IBD.
Disclosure: This study was supported by The Swedish Research Council and others. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Lerchova T, Størdal K, Andersson B, Ludvigsson J, Mårild K. Atopic dermatitis in early childhood and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: A Scandinavian birth cohort study. J Pediatr. 2024;270:14027 (Mar21). doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114027. Source