(HealthDay)—Atopic dermatitis (AD) is most commonly referred to as AD in the literature, according to a review published online July 8 in Allergy.

Robert Kantor, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to determine the most commonly used terms for AD. A total of 33,060 terms were identified in Medline.

The researchers found that 64.4 percent of publications used the term "AD," 46.9 percent used the term "eczema," and 7.5 percent used "atopic eczema" (AE). Most of the publications used the terms AD or eczema without additional nomenclature (82.0 and 70.8 percent, respectively); only 1.2 percent used the term AE alone. The terminology "childhood eczema," "flexural eczema," "infantile eczema," "atopic neurodermatitis," or "Besnier's prurigo" were used in few publications. Until the late 1970s, AD was rarely used; afterward it became the most commonly used of the terms, with its use increasing continuously until 2015. Use of AE decreased between 2008 and 2015. In studies across almost all publication types, languages, and journals, AD was the most commonly used term.

"AD is the most commonly used term, and appears to be increasing in popularity," the authors write. "Given that eczema is a nonspecific term that describes the morphological appearance of several forms of dermatitis, we strongly suggest the use of a more specific term, atopic dermatitis, in publications, health care clinician training, and patient education."

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Journal information: Allergy