Growth Pattern In ′Pure′ Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

A topic dermatitis (AD) in children has been shown to be associated with growth impairment in a few recent studies. There however, has been no report published on the growth pattern of children who have ‘pure’ AD, i.e., not accompanied by bronchial asthma. The objectives of our study were :I) To examine the growth pattern of children suffering from ‘pure’ AD and ii) to ascertain the relationship, if any, of selected disease parameters with growth attainments of children. A total of 108 children (63 males and 45 females), aged 1-5+ years with ‘pure’ AD were aross-sectionally examined for selected anthropometric parameters including height, weight, mid- upper arm circumference and biceps and triceps skin fold thickness. Fifty eight (54%) subjects weighed below the 10th centile and 23 (28%) were below the 10th centile for height of the NCHS standards. Boys showed relatively worse growth performance than girls from 1-4 years of age. There was no significant correlation between disease severity of extent and growth attainments. Our findings point to an impaired somatic growth in pre-school children with AD, boys faring worse than the girls, and to no association of growth performance with severity or extent of the disease