Contact Dermatitis in the United States: A Population-Based Study on Patient Visit Characteristics and Treatment Prescription Patterns.

Background

Contact dermatitis (CD) affects ∼15% of the general population over a lifetime. However, there is a lack of epidemiological studies on treatment patterns for CD.

Objective

We aim to analyze the patient characteristics and prescribing patterns among dermatologists and general practitioners (GPs) (internal medicine [IM] and family medicine [FM]) for CD in the United States.

Methods

We conducted a population-based study using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Results

We identified 178,017,680 weighted patient visits for CD from 2001 to 2016. Dermatologists saw more white and non-Hispanic patients than GPs. GPs were less likely to prescribe ultrahigh potency topical corticosteroids (FM OR 0.27; P < 0.001, IM OR 0.41; P < 0.001) and more likely to prescribe oral antihistamines (FM OR 3.71; P < 0.001, IM OR 3.56; P < 0.001), oral corticosteroids (FM OR 5.35; P < 0.001, IM OR 6.87; P < 0.001), and injectable corticosteroids (FM OR 3.42; P = 0.006, IM OR 5.68; P < 0.001) than dermatologists.

Conclusions

Across CD visits, GPs were less likely than dermatologists to prescribe ultrahigh potency topical corticosteroids and more likely than dermatologists to prescribe oral antihistamines and systemic corticosteroid therapy.