RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Due to the burden of the disease, some patients try complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics associated with CAM use in children and adults with AD. METHODS: We conducted a literature review in accordance with the PRISMA international guidelines for literature reviews and meta-analyses. A systematic search was performed in the PubMed database. Qualitative and quantitative analyses using a χ2 test were performed to compare characteristics between CAM users and non-users. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of 514 articles retrieved, 12 studies were included, giving a total of 2240 patients. Our statistical analysis identified an association between CAM use and rhino-conjunctivitis (pâ¯=â¯0.015 in children, pâ¯=â¯0.041 in adults), topical corticosteroid use (pâ¯=â¯0.042 in children, pâ¯=â¯0.008 in adults), and daily application of moisturizing cream (pâ¯=â¯0.002 in children, pâ¯<â¯0.001 in adults). Gender did not affect the decision to use CAM (pâ¯>â¯0.05). In studies, a higher number of affected eczema sites (pâ¯<â¯0.001), prior use of more than two conventional treatments (pâ¯=â¯0.047), and food avoidance diets (pâ¯=â¯0.016) were predictive of CAM use in children. In adults, a younger age (pâ¯<â¯0.05), higher education level (pâ¯=â¯0.043), and lower age at AD onset (pâ¯=â¯0.004) were related to CAM use. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this is the first literature review focusing on socio-demographic and disease determinants related to CAM use among AD patients. The lack of homogeneity in measuring tools makes it difficult to compare and synthesize the studies.