Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disorder in the USA and worldwide. There are significant differences in the epidemiology, phenotype, and genetics of AD in different racial and ethnic subgroups. In particular, patients of African descent have been found to have higher prevalence of AD in the USA and England, whereas Hispanic Americans have lower prevalence of AD. Further, African Americans have been found to have more severe disease and more comorbid allergic disorder. Patients of African descent appear to have different genetic risk factors, with less loss-of-function filaggrin 1 mutations and more filaggrin 2 mutations than patients of Northern or Eastern European origin. Finally, AD has different clinical phenotypes in African Americans, which clinicians need to recognize for the proper diagnosis and assessment of AD.