Skip to main content

Prevalence, Incidence of Eczema Increase With Severity of Alopecia Areata

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on July 14, 2025.

via HealthDay

MONDAY, July 14, 2025 -- Patients with higher-severity alopecia areata (AA) have a higher prevalence and incidence of comorbid atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study published online June 26 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Christopher G. Bunick, M.D., Ph.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues used data from the Merative MarketScan Research Databases to examine the prevalence, incidence, and relative risk for comorbid AD among patients with AA. Eligible patients, aged 12 years or older, had one or more inpatient or two or more outpatient claims for AA between Jan. 1, 2017, and Oct. 31, 2023. The prevalence of AD (percentage) and incidence (cases/1,000 person-years) were reported among patients with AA and stratified by disease severity. A subgroup analysis was performed among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

The researchers found that the prevalence of AD was 3.2 percent among patients with AA at baseline (overall prevalence in database, 12.1 percent), with most having moderate-to-severe AD; higher prevalence was seen among adolescents with AA (7.6 percent). Regardless of age, the incidence of AD increased with the severity of AA disease. Compared with those with mild disease, those with moderate-to-severe AA had a 78 percent higher risk for being diagnosed with AD. Regardless of AA severity, dermatologist-diagnosed patients had higher rates of comorbid AD.

"Routine monitoring of patients with AA, particularly those at risk of being diagnosed with comorbid AD, may enable earlier and more effective interventions," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, which funded the study.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Novel Treatments Recommended for Management of Atopic Dermatitis in Adults

FRIDAY, July 25, 2025 -- In an update to the guidelines for managing atopic dermatitis in adults, four new treatment recommendations are presented. The focused update was...

Alopecia Areata Associated With Severe Psychosocial Impact

THURSDAY, July 24, 2025 -- Alopecia areata (AA) has a severe psychosocial impact, which is linked to illness perceptions and stigma more strongly than disease severity, according...

High Dietary Inflammatory Index Tied to Increased Prevalence of Eczema

TUESDAY, July 15, 2025 -- A high dietary inflammatory index (DII), which quantifies the inflammatory potential of diet, is associated with increased prevalence of atopic...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.