Understanding Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Utilization for Childhood Atopic Dermatitis

Principal Investigator:

Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, MSCE
University of Pennsylvania

Overview:

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease that disproportionately affects minority children and is associated with a large financial burden in the U.S. Racial/ethnic disparities in health care use for AD also exist. For example, minority children are more likely than white children to go to the emergency room (ER) for their AD. In order to reduce differences in health care use for AD between white and minority children as well as minimize potentially avoidable and costly ER use, we propose to evaluate racial/ethnic differences in the barriers to routine health care use and reasons for specific health care use patterns among children with AD. We will interview caregivers of white, black, and Hispanic children with AD and identify the factors that affect health care use for AD by race/ethnicity. Our findings will inform future interventions to optimize and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in health care use for childhood AD.

Status:

This study was funded by PeDRA in partnership with the National Eczema Association (NEA) through the 2020 Childhood Eczema Challenge Grant and is currently underway.