A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THE INCREASED REFERRAL OF ATOPIC-DERMATITIS FROM THE ASIAN COMMUNITY IN LEICESTER

The population of the city of Leicester contains, in addition to the ' native' population, a large immigrant 'Asian' community originating fr om the Indian subcontinent, Among referrals to our department, atopic dermatitis IAD) was 3.3 times more common in Asians, We therefore perf ormed a study based on a cohort of consecutive births in Leicester hos pitals to investigate the possible ethnic difference in prevalence and to examine possible reasons for an ethnic difference in referral patt ern. Parents of 1 800 children were asked at the time of the birth to allow their child to be entered on a register, A year later, parents o f a sample of 499 of these children, 158 Asian and 341 non-Asian, were invited for interview and for examination of the children. A total of 413 children were examined. The overall point prevalence of AD was 10 .7% (95% confidence interval, 7.7%-13.7%). There was no significant et hnic difference. However, a history of eczema in a first degree relati ve was found in 14.2% of Asian subjects and 35.1% of non-Asians (P < 0 .0001, chi-square test). The data suggest the increased referrals to o ur clinic from the Asian community may result from a lower level of fa miliarity with AD.