Atopic dermatitis is associated with hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosis: A single institution retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and atopic dermatitis (AD) are both chronic inflammatory skin diseases. An association between these 2 conditions can have important potential implications for elucidating pathogenesis, disease course, and treatment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between AD and HS. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients seen at Duke University Medical Center from 2007 to 2017 who had AD compared with a control group without an AD diagnosis. The association of AD and HS was evaluated using a logistic regression model after adjusting for other confounders including age, sex, and race. RESULTS: Of 28,780 patients with an AD diagnosis, 325 (1.1%) were diagnosed with HS compared with 76 (0.2%) within the 48,383 patients in the non-AD group. An adjusted logistic regression model demonstrated an increased odds ratio of having HS diagnosis in the AD group as compared with the control non-AD group (odds ratio: 5.57, 95% confidence interval: 4.30-7.21, P < .001). LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective study performed at a single institution with the possibility of surveillance bias being present. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AD are more likely to be diagnosed with HS than patients without AD. Further research is needed to understand the pathophysiologic mechanism and potential treatment implications.