Two-Thirds of Children Hospitalized for Atopic Dermatitis Insured by Medicare/Medicaid

White, male toddlers covered by public health insurance constituted most pediatric hospitalizations for atopic dermatitis in the United States, according to a study published in the journal SKINmed.

The retrospective analysis included 901 pediatric patients hospitalized in the United States with a primary diagnosis of atopic dermatitis or eczema. Researchers used data from the 2012 to 2017 National Inpatient Sample for the study.

“Patients that met the inclusion criteria … consisted predominantly of toddlers of male gender and white race,” wrote corresponding author Maria M. Tsoukas, MD, of the college of medicine at University of Illinois at Chicago, and coauthors. “Further, 40% belonged to a household of the lowest quartile annual income, and 64% were covered by Medicare/Medicaid.”

Compared with patients with atopic dermatitis or eczema alone, the average length of stay and total charges were significantly higher for patients who also had asthma and/or allergic rhinitis, according to the study.

Age and sex were significantly linked with additional atopic conditions on multivariate analysis. Specifically, patients in midchildhood had the highest likelihood of having other atopic conditions compared with infants, and boys had a higher likelihood than girls, the study found.

“Understanding characteristics associated with additional atopic conditions in children with atopic dermatitis or eczema as well as health care disparities in this population may yield early intervention, enhanced care, and improved resource allocation,” researchers advised.

Reference:
Zimmerman L, Tsoukas Z, Nikas OV, Puyana C, Tsoukas MM. Pediatric hospitalizations for atopic dermatitis in the United States; characteristics associated with the atopic triad. Skinmed. 2022;20(4):344-349.