Four Years Prospective Study of Natural History of Atopic Dermatitis Aged 7~8 Years at an Individual Level: A Community-Based Survey by Dermatologists' Skin Examination in Childhood

Background: The age-dependent change in atopic dermatitis (AD) at an individual level has mostly performed in a hospital-setting. Objective: We evaluated the age-dependent change of AD symptoms at an individual level in a community-setting. Methods: For the diagnostic accuracy, all participants of schoolchildren were received skin examination by dermatologists (twice a year for the same group), instead of questionnaire-based surveys. For this study, sequential check-ups of 273 elementary school children, aged 7 similar to 8 years, were performed for 4 years up to the age of 10 similar to 11 years. Results: Among the 47 AD children, who had been diagnosed as having AD at the first-year check-up, spontaneous remission was detected in nine children during the follow-up periods (remission rate of 19.1%). As a consequence, the one-year AD prevalence was decreased by 5.9% in the elementary schoolchildren over four years. Unexpectedly, late onset (after 8 years of age) AD was observed in 21.7% of AD children. There was no statistically significant relationship between spontaneous remission and host factors including sex and family history of atopic diseases. Conclusion: We observed that 19.1% of AD children in the age group of 7 similar to 11 years showed spontaneous remission based on skin examination by dermatologists. There might be an increase in the prevalence of late onset AD in Korea. (Ann Dermatol 28(6) 684 similar to 689, 2016)