Incident alopecia areata and vitiligo in adult women with atopic dermatitis: Nurses' Health Study 2

Allergy. 2017 May;72(5):831-834. doi: 10.1111/all.13128. Epub 2017 Feb 6.

Abstract

We aimed to determine the risk of alopecia areata (AA) and vitiligo associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) in a large cohort of US women, the Nurses' Health Study 2. We used logistic regression to calculate age- and multivariate-adjusted odds ratios to determine the risk of incident AA and vitiligo associated with AD diagnosed in or before 2009. A total of 87 406 and 87 447 participants were included in the AA and vitiligo analyses, respectively. A history of AD in 2009 was reported in 11% of participants. There were 147 incident cases of AA and 98 incident cases of vitiligo over 2 years of follow-up. AD was associated with increased risk of developing AA (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.18-2.76) and vitiligo (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.29-3.54) in multivariate models. In this study of US women, AD was associated with increased risk of incident vitiligo and AA in adulthood.

Keywords: alopecia areata; atopic dermatitis; comorbidities; epidemiology; vitiligo.

MeSH terms

  • Alopecia Areata / epidemiology*
  • Alopecia Areata / etiology*
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / complications*
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / epidemiology*
  • Disease Susceptibility
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Middle Aged
  • Nurses
  • Odds Ratio
  • Population Surveillance
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Vitiligo / epidemiology*
  • Vitiligo / etiology*