OBJECTIVES: The objective of the review was to identify comorbidities among patients with AD.

METHODS: A targeted literature review (TLR) on comorbidities among patients with AD was performed. Medline database via the OVID interface was exhaustively searched. Abstracts and full texts were screened based on the PICOS criteria, with extractions performed and quality checked.

RESULTS: Overall, 29 publications reporting comorbidities from 11 countries and 2 international studies were included. The studies recorded many different comorbidities with prevalence depending on the country, age, and AD severity.

In mild adult AD patients, asthma occurred between 8.7%-42.9% of patients, while the range in severe AD cases was higher (19.4-83.4%). Cardiovascular events and hypertension were observed between 1.3-30% of mild AD individuals and 1.75-68% of severe cases. Diabetes affected between 2.2-7% of mild and 3.2-22.9% of severe AD patients. Depression was reported by 14.4% of mild and 36.3% of severe cases in Spain. Between 6-6.5% of mild European patients had a risk of tumours compared to 10.7-13.7% of severe cases in European patients. Cataracts were observed in 0.29-3.4% of Asian AD patients.

In children, the most commonly observed comorbidities were asthma (9.5-51.7%) and allergic rhinitis (2.2% in moderate AD and 72.3% in patients with asthma).

CONCLUSIONS: Both Th2-mediated and Th2-independent comorbidities have been observed in patients with AD. Additional large-scale database studies with significant longitudinality are warranted to identify prevalence of these and additional comorbidities in AD patients.