Is Acetaminophen Use Associated with Atopic Eczema and other Allergic Diseases in Adolescents?

Abstract

Atopic Eczema (AE) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects children and adults, and alters quality of life. Previous studies have suggested several socio-demographic and environmental factors related to the prevalence of AE and other allergic diseases, including acetaminophen use. In the present study, we report the rates of isolated AE, AE associated with asthma and AE associated with rhinitis among 13- to 14-year-old Spanish adolescents and the level of association of these conditions with the use of acetaminophen. We analyzed Spanish data from a cross-sectional Phase 3 study within ISAAC. A total of 28,717 adolescents completed the Phase 3 written questionnaire by answering questions for acetaminophen use and on asthma, rhinitis and AE symptoms. We observed an association between acetaminophen use and AE among the adolescents who had used acetaminophen in the previous month. Furthermore, the prevalence rate increased with the number of allergic processes: for AE alone, the adjusted Prevalence Ratio (aPR) was 1.81 and for AE associated with rhinitis or with asthma, aPRs were 2.20 and 3.03, respectively. We conclude that acetaminophen use in childhood may be an important factor associated with development and/or maintenance of AE and other allergic diseases.

Keywords

• Acetaminophen
• Adolescents
• Asthma
• Atopic Eczema
• Rhinitis