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In the United States, Blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders Are More Likely Than Whites to Seek Medical Care for Atopic Dermatitis
Shirisha R. Janumpally, MD;
Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhD;
Aditya K. Gupta, MD, FRCP;
Alan B. Fleischer, Jr, MD
Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:634-637.
Background There have been population-based studies conducted in England and the
United States that suggest an increase in prevalence of atopic dermatitis
among black and/or Asian children.
Objective To assess whether health care utilization for atopic dermatitis differs
among different ethnic groups in the United States.
Design Weighted data on representative office visits by whites, blacks, and
Asian/Pacific Islanders were analyzed using a cross-sectional study, the National
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), from 1990 through 1998 using statistical
software.
Setting The NAMCS is an ongoing data collection effort by the Division of Health
Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The survey samples representative visits to US office-based
physicians during a representative week of practice.
Patients All outpatient visits were analyzed and compared with those for patients
diagnosed as having atopic dermatitis (International Classification
of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, code 691.80).
Main Outcome Measure Diagnosis of atopic dermatitis by race.
Results Of 570 million estimated visits for skin conditions, 7.9 million were
for atopic dermatitis. The numbers of per capita visits for atopic dermatitis
among blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders were 2-fold and 6-fold higher, respectively,
than among whites. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for atopic dermatitis
visits by blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders relative to whites were 3.4 (2.5-4.7)
and 6.7 (4.8-9.5), respectively.
Conclusions Blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders are much more likely to visit physicians
for atopic dermatitis than are whites and may benefit from education and early
intervention efforts concerning the disease.
From the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Dermatology Research and Department
of Dermatology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem,
NC (Drs Janumpally, Feldman, and Fleischer); Division of Dermatology, Department
of Medicine, Sunnybrook and Womens' College Health Sciences Center, University
of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Dr Gupta).
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