CLINICAL AND LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
Association between atopic dermatitis and obesity in adulthood
J.I. Silverberg,
N.B. Silverberg,
M. Lee-Wong,
J.I. Silverberg
Department of Dermatology, St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Centers, New York, NY 10025, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorN.B. Silverberg
Department of Dermatology, St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Centers, New York, NY 10025, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorM. Lee-Wong
Department of Allergy and Immunology, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10003, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorJ.I. Silverberg,
N.B. Silverberg,
M. Lee-Wong,
J.I. Silverberg
Department of Dermatology, St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Centers, New York, NY 10025, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorN.B. Silverberg
Department of Dermatology, St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Centers, New York, NY 10025, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorM. Lee-Wong
Department of Allergy and Immunology, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10003, U.S.A.
Search for more papers by this authorJonathan I. Silverberg. E-mail: [email protected]
Funding sources None.
Conflicts of interest None declared.
Summary
Background Obesity in early childhood is associated with increased risk for and severity of atopic dermatitis (AD).
Objective To determine whether obesity in adulthood is associated with risk of AD.
Methods This was a retrospective case–control study of 2090 adults using questionnaire, height and weight, and skin-prick testing between January 1994 and December 2003.
Results Obesity in adults was associated with increased AD [multinomial logistic regression: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1·43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·08–1·89; P = 0·01], but not nonatopic dermatitis (aOR 0·59, 95% CI 0·21–1·68; P = 0·32). Obesity was also associated with increased atopic asthma (aOR 1·98, 95% CI 1·47–2·66, P < 0·0001), but not associated with nonatopic asthma (P = 0·20), atopic or nonatopic rhinoconjunctivitis (P = 0·08 and 0·31, respectively), food allergies (P = 0·67 and 0·35, respectively) or atopy (P = 0·40). The association between obesity and AD remained significant even when controlling for history of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and food allergies (aOR 1·40, 95% CI 1·05–1·86; P = 0·02) or in subset analyses of subjects with AD alone (aOR 1·96, 95% CI 1·02–3·75; P = 0·04) and with comorbid asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and/or food allergies (aOR 1·40, 95% CI 1·03–1·91; P = 0·03).
Conclusion Obesity in adulthood is associated with AD. Further studies are warranted to determine if weight loss may prevent or mitigate AD in adults.
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