AAAAI 2023: Proximity to Major Road Influences Risk for Atopic Dermatitis
Children who lived closer to a heavily traveled road had higher risk
MONDAY, March 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Living near a major road appears to increase the risk for atopic dermatitis (AD), according to research findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, held from Feb. 24 to 27 in San Antonio.
“We are learning that air pollution may play a role in allergic disorders,” Michael Nevid, M.D., of National Jewish Health in Denver, told Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate. “Previous studies have largely focused on asthma, but there have been relatively fewer studies evaluating the effect of traffic-related air pollution on AD. Recent studies have highlighted this possible connection in Korea.”
Nevid and colleagues conducted a 13-year retrospective chart review of patients aged 0 to 18 years who presented to a pediatric department. They identified patients with AD by searching for diagnostic codes and compared those patients to an age- and sex-matched control group of children without AD. They used residential addresses to determine distance from a major road with average annual daily traffic of more than 10,000 vehicles.
The cohort included 7,384 patients with AD and 7,241 controls. The researchers found that the odds of AD decreased by 18 percent for each factor 10 increase in distance from a major road. Those who lived 1,000 m or farther from a major road had 26.1 percent lower odds of AD than children living within 500 m of a major road.
“Physicians who practice in urban settings with patients living near major roads should consider evaluating for the presence of atopic dermatitis,” Nevid told Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate. “We are interested in determining if future therapeutics that specifically target the type of inflammation caused by air pollution may be utilized for these patients. One must also consider the importance of preventative measures as well to reduce the exposure of children to harmful pollutants.”
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