Neurodermatitis and sleep in early childhood - a review

Schlarb A, Brinkmann J, Doekel M, et al. Neurodermitis und Schlaf in der frühen Kindheit – ein Überblick. ALLERGOLOGIE. 2017;40(1):3-15.Neurodermatitis (better called atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema, AE) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, which often appears already in early childhood and may be associated with a reduced quality of life for affected children. Research in adult patients has shown that AE often is associated with sleep problems. There is, however, little published information regarding this point in childhood. The main target of this paper is to provide an overview of the current evidence for the relation between sleep and AE in early childhood. A systematic literature research was conducted to identify relevant studies. The seven studies detected for this age group show that similar to adults, children with AE have increased sleep problems. They experience reduced sleep efficiency and sleep duration with an increased sleep fragmentation and prolonged sleep onset latency. Moreover, the severity of the disease directly influences the sleep quality. In general, there are few studies, which address the described relations in childhood. Therefore, more systematic research is required in this area. It is important to diagnose and treat chronic skin diseases such as AE early in childhood also to prevent sleep problems and related adverse effects on children's psychological well-being and on future development of children