title: Predictive factors of persistent infantile atopic dermatitis up to 6 years old in Taiwan: a prospective birth cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic dermatitis affects 15-30% of children worldwide. Onset of disease usually occurs within the first year of life, over half of which regress by 6 years of age. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors related to the persistence of infantile atopic dermatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this birth cohort study, patients were enrolled prenatally and followed until 6 years of age; 246 patients had infantile atopic dermatitis at 6 months of age. Family history, maternal and paternal total and specific Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, and cord blood IgE were recorded. Clinical examination, questionnaire survey, and blood samples for total and specific IgE of the children were collected at each follow-up visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 246 patients with infantile atopic dermatitis at 6 months of age, 48 patients had persisted atopic dermatitis at 6 years of age (19.5%). Risk factors associated with persistent infantile atopic dermatitis included egg white sensitization (odds ratio: 3.801, P = 0.020), and atopic dermatitis involving two or more areas at 6 months old (odds ratio: 2.921, P = 0.018) after multivariate analysis with logistic regression. Patients with persistent infantile atopic dermatitis had a higher risk of asthma before 6 years old (39.6% vs 24.2%, P = 0.032).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Egg white sensitization and the initial involvement of two or more areas at 6 months of age were associated with the persistent infantile atopic dermatitis. Patients with persistent infantile atopic dermatitis are more likely to develop asthma by 6 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M M-H
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W-N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: T-Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H-C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.|Department of Pediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei.|Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming University, Taipei.
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: asthma; atopic dermatitis; birth cohort; natural history; persistence