10 Nov Children With Eczema More Likely to Have A Speech Disorder
Dr. Silverberg
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH
Assistant Professor in Dermatology
Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Silverberg: There were several motivating factors for this study.
First, I anecdotally encountered many patients in my eczema clinic that reported having profound language and speech difficulties during eczema flares.
Second, previous studies from our group found that children with eczema were more likely to interact with speech therapists than children without eczema. We hypothesized that chronic eczema negatively impacts children’s neurocognitive and/or speech development.
We sought to determine whether childhood eczema is in fact associated with higher rates of speech disorders. Indeed, children with eczema were more likely to have a speech or language disorder. Severe eczema was associated with even higher odds of speech disorders than mild eczema. Children with eczema who also had either attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder or sleep disturbances were at greatest risk for having a speech disorder.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Silverberg: Other chronic disorders of childhood, such as congenital heart disease and chronic kidney disease have previously been associated with poor language performance. Our study suggests that childhood eczema should be reckoned among other chronic diseases of childhood with respect to its deleterious effects on neurocognitive and language performance. In addition, the results demonstrate that eczema is not just “skin deep” and can indirectly impact upon a variety of other health issues in children.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Silverberg: This study suggests that achieving better control of a child’s eczema may ultimately improve their neurocognitive and language development. Future studies are needed to identify the precise mechanism(s) of association between eczema and speech disorders and potential avenues of intervention to improve child health. Finally, we need safer and more effective treatments for chronic childhood eczema, especially moderate to severe disease, in order to reduce the burden of disease and harmful effects on child development.
Citation:
Eczema Is Associated with Childhood Speech Disorder: A Retrospective Analysis from the National Survey of Children’s Health and the National Health Interview Survey
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