The prevalence of eczema increased in children from 1997 to 2018, with variation observed by race and ethnicity, according to a research letter published online Feb. 22 in JAMA Dermatology.

Siri Coragudi and Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey from 1997 to 2018 to examine the prevalence of eczema or skin allergy during the past 12 months in children aged 0 to 17 years. Data were included for 260,888 children (39.2 percent aged 11 to 17 years; 75.1 percent White).

The researchers found an increase in the prevalence of eczema, from 7.9 percent in 1997 to 12.6 percent in 2018. An increasing prevalence trend was identified from 1997 to 2010 in joinpoint regression, after which prevalence remained stable. For White and Asian children, increased trends in prevalence were seen for the entire study period, while prevalence among Black children and multiracial children increased until 2011 and 2009, respectively. The average annual percentage change of prevalence was lower in White versus Black and multiracial children (differences, –0.9 and –1.3 percent, respectively). Hispanic children had an increasing trend in prevalence from 1997 to 2018, while prevalence only increased from 1997 to 2010 in non-Hispanic children.

"This study found an increasing trend in the prevalence of eczema from 1997 to 2018 for noninstitutionalized children in the U.S. with significant differences between race and ethnicity," the authors write.

Yosipovitch disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry and has a patent for APAP pending.

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