Atopic Dermatitis In Adults: Impact on Sexuality

OBJECTIVES: Currently, only few studies have been conducted to evaluate the burden associated with atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin inflammatory disease in adult subjects and its impact on their sexuality. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was designed and completed by adults AD patients. Data were collected from patients' members of the French Eczema associations or patients seen in four department of Dermatology in France. Validated tools for evaluating the burden (ABS-A) and QoL (DLQJ and SF12) were administrated. The severity of AD was also evaluated using a modified version of Patient Oriented (PO)-SCORAD.The severity of the AD disease was classified according of this same score. RESULTS: 1,024 subjects responded to the questionnaire (women: 58.3%). 283 subjects had mild AD, 414 had moderate AD, and 327 had severe AD. 81,65% of the patients declared to be affected by AD on their sexuality behavior.12% of the patients reported genital involvement. This proportion increased with the severity of AD: 2.8%,9.4%and22.02% respectively for mild, moderate and severe AD (p