[Epidemiology of atopic dermatitis].

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic pruriginous skin disease which usually begins during early life (before the age of 2 years). Recently, the persistence of the disease in adulthood has been clearly established at least in a subset of patients, with frequent moderate to severe forms. The exact prevalence of the disease varies according to the study design and its estimate remains difficult mainly because of the lack of consensual diagnostic tools easily usable in population studies. Finally, the disease has a major impact in terms of public health and identification of risk factors for persistence at age adult is therefore of prime importance.