Atopic dermatitis and risk of hypertension, type-2 diabetes, myocardial infarction and stroke in a cross-sectional analysis from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project.
Authors: Drucker, A.M., Qureshi, A.A., Dummer, T.J.B., Parker, L., Li, W.Q. (2017).
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology. Doi: 10.1111/bjd.15727.
Abstract: Atopic dermatitis (AD) has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors and diseases, but epidemiologic studies to date have found conflicting results.
Objectives: We aimed to determine the associations of AD with hypertension, type-2 diabetes (T2D), myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project which includes Canadian residents aged 30-74 living in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. We excluded participants with incomplete data on AD, hypertension, T2D, MI or stroke, who had type-1 or gestational diabetes or who developed any of the outcomes at an age prior to a diagnosis of AD, leaving 259,119 participants in our analysis. We used logistic regression to calculate age and sex- and multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) between AD and subsequent hypertension, T2D, MI and stroke.
Results: AD was reported by 21,379 (8.4%) participants. A total of 52,787 cases of hypertension, 12,739 cases of T2D, 4,390 cases of MI and 2,235 cases of stroke were reported by participants at enrollment. In the multivariable-adjusted model, AD was associated with decreased odds (OR, 95% CI) of hypertension (0.87, 0.83-0.90), T2D (0.78, 0.71-0.84), MI (0.87, 0.75-1.00) and stroke (0.79, 0.66-0.95).
Conclusions: We did not find evidence of a positive association between AD and subsequent hypertension, T2D, MI or stroke; AD was inversely associated with these outcomes in our study. Given our findings and the conflicting literature, AD is likely not a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.