OBJECTIVES: A systematic review of the literature was performed to elicit the published evidence relating to quality of life (QOL) in children with atopic dermatitis (AD).  METHODS: OVID MEDLINE® and EMBASE™ were explored by two reviewers for a combined search with terms related to economics and QOL in a paediatric population, for the period 1996-2010. This abstract reports the results of the QOL review. Two reviewers browsed abstracts, retrieved suitable articles and summarized key findings. A third person acted as overall reviewer and adjudicator in case of disagreement.  RESULTS: From an initial search yielding 704 references, 51 primary research articles were included in the review, 14 reporting on QOL as primary outcome and 37 as secondary outcome.  QOL as a primary outcome was reported for Europe (n=7), North America (n=4), Asia (n=3), Australia (n=1) and South America (n=1).   One study reported preference-based outcomes. Most studies were based on AD-specific tools such as the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index or the Dermatology Life Quality Index (n=6), the Infants' Dermatitis Quality of Life Index (n=4), the Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis or the Parent’s Index of Quality of Life–Atopic Dermatitis (n=2) and the Dermatitis Family Impact Questionnaire (n=5). One study was based on general QOL measures from the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). The studies targeting very young children most often used parents as proxies. Most studies pointed to an inverse correlation between QOL and severity as well as correlation between various instruments. Studies reporting on QOL as a secondary outcome confirmed those findings.  CONCLUSIONS: There is a clear lack of studies eliciting health state utilities. Furthermore, most AD-specific tools do not provide a standard, quantitative measurement in relation to perfect health as would do preference based studies required for cost-utility analyses. Further research should focus on utility measurement.