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Risk of epilepsy among patients with atopic dermatitis: A nationwide longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Chen MuHong,
Wu YiHui,
Su TungPing,
Chen YingSheue,
Hsu JuWei,
Huang KaiLin,
Li ChengTa,
Lin WeiChen,
Chang WenHan,
Chen TzengJi,
Bai YaMei
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/epi.12667
Subject(s) - atopic dermatitis , medicine , epilepsy , hazard ratio , asthma , confidence interval , incidence (geometry) , allergy , proportional hazards model , pediatrics , dermatology , psychiatry , immunology , physics , optics
Summary Objective Both atopic dermatitis and epilepsy have been regarded as chronic inflammatory diseases. However, their association has yet to be investigated. Methods Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 35,312 patients with atopic dermatitis but without a history of epilepsy, and 35,312 age‐/gender‐matched controls were enrolled between 1998 and 2008, and followed to the end of 2011 to identify the development of epilepsy. Results Subjects with atopic dermatitis had a higher incidence of developing epilepsy (0.94 vs. 0.27/1,000 person‐years, p < 0.001) than the control group. The Cox regression model showed that atopic dermatitis increased the risk of developing epilepsy (hazard ratio [ HR ] 2.91, 95% confidence interval [ CI ] 2.23–3.82) after adjusting for demographic data and medical comorbidities. Sensitivity tests showed consistent findings ( HR 2.32, 95% CI 1.68–2.96) after excluding the first year of observation. In addition, asthma ( HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04–1.72) and allergic rhinitis ( HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.04–1.73) were related to the risk of epilepsy. Significance Subjects with atopic dermatitis were associated with an increased risk of developing epilepsy in later life. Further studies would be needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. A PowerPoint slide summarizing this article is available for download in the Supporting Information section here .