Association between atopic dermatitis and peripheral vascular disease: a cross-sectional study in the All of Us Research Program

Extract

Dear Editor, Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by pruritic, erythematous lesions. Evidence is emerging to suggest a possible association between AD and several cardiovascular comorbidities, such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, angina, heart failure and stroke.^1–3 Included among these comorbidities is peripheral vascular disease (PVD).⁴ A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the potential link between AD and PVD using the All of Us Research Program (AoURP), a National Institutes of Health database of over 260 000 diverse American adults.

In this cross-sectional study, participants with AD were identified in AoURP using Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) diagnostic code 43116000 (excluding 88996004). Cases of PVD were identified by SNOMED 400047006. AD cases and controls were compared using a χ² test for categorical variables and one-way analysis of variance for continuous variables. The relationship between AD and PVD was assessed via logistic regression before and after controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, race, body mass index, smoking status, asthma, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.