Atopic dermatitis and alcohol use – a meta‐analysis and systematic review

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>While several maternal exposures have been associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content>) in offspring, the effect of alcohol use during pregnancy on the risk of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> in offspring is unclear. Furthermore, it is unclear whether adults with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> have an increased alcohol use, although other poor health behaviours have been associated with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> including smoking and physical inactivity as well as psychiatric disease. In this systematic review and meta‐analysis, the association between alcohol use and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> was investigated in two ways: 1) whether alcohol use (drinkers versus abstainers) during pregnancy is associated with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> in offspring and 2) whether <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> is associated with increased alcohol use. The medical databases PubMed, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">EMBASE</jats:styled-content> and Web of Science were searched, and data extraction was carried out by two independent reviewers. Eighteen studies were included in the qualitative analysis (comparing alcohol drinkers to abstainers), and 12 studies were included in the quantitative analysis. There was a positive association between alcohol use during pregnancy and development of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> in offspring (pooled odds ratio [<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">OR</jats:styled-content>] 1.16; 95% confidence interval [<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content>] 1.09–1.24). However, there was no consistent association between <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content> in adults and adolescents and alcohol use (pooled <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">OR</jats:styled-content> 1.06; 95% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content> 0.92–1.23). There is a need for future well‐designed prospective studies to firmly establish the association between alcohol use and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AD</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p>