title: The descriptive epidemiology of atopic dermatitis in the community.
abstract: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common condition in the community, particularly amongst children. Although comparison of prevalence data between surveys is made difficult by differences in methodology, the available data suggest that there has been a substantial rise in the prevalence of AD, and that social, geographical and racial variation in disease frequency exists. There is a lack of quality data relating to the prognosis of AD. Recently a reliable set of diagnostic criteria has been developed and a number of severity scoring systems have been proposed for use in epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine (Dermatology), St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marks
mesh_terms: D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence