title: Clinical Features of Adult/Adolescent Atopic Dermatitis and Chinese Criteria for Atopic Dermatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by chronic recurrent dermatitis with profound itching. Most patients have personal and/or family history of atopic diseases. Several criteria have been proposed for the diagnosis of AD. Although the clinical features of childhood AD have been widely studied, there has been less large-scale study on adult/adolescent AD. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of adult/adolescent patients with chronic symmetrical eczema/AD and to propose Chinese diagnostic criteria for adult/adolescent AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  A hospital-based study was performed. Forty-two dermatological centers participated in this study. Adult and adolescent patients (12 years and over) with chronic symmetrical eczema or AD were included in this study. Questionnaires were completed by both patients and investigators. The valid questionnaires were analyzed using EpiData 3.1 and SPSS 17.0 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2662 valid questionnaires were collected (1369 male and 1293 female). Of all 2662 patients, 2062 (77.5%) patients had the disease after 12 years old, while only 600 (22.5%) patients had the disease before 12 years old, suggesting late-onset eczema/AD is common. Two thousand one hundred and thirty-nine (80.4%) patients had the disease for more than 6 months. One thousand one hundred and forty-four (43.0%) patients had a personal and/or family history of atopic diseases. One thousand five hundred and forty-eight (58.2%) patients had an elevated total serum IgE and/or eosinophilia and/or positive allergen-specific IgE. Based on these clinical and laboratory features, we proposed Chinese criteria for adult/adolescent AD. Of all 2662 patients, 60.3% were satisfied with our criteria, while only 48.2% satisfied with Hanifin Rajka criteria and 32.7% satisfied with Williams criteria, suggesting a good sensitivity of our criteria in adult/adolescent AD patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late-onset of eczema or AD is common. The clinical manifestations of AD are heterogeneous. We have proposed Chinese diagnostic criteria for adolescent and adult AD, which are simple and sensitive for diagnosis of adult/adolescent AD.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhang-Lei
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Qian-Jin
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yi-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xin-Xiang
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xiu-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: You-Kun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu-Zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Cai-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Zhi-Rong
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jin-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Hui-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong-Fu
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiu-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zhi-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nong
authors.forename: Zai-Pei
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Dan-Qi
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Tong-Xin
authors.initials: TX
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D004485:Eczema / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D007073:Immunoglobulin E