Chronic urticaria (CU) is linked with several systemic and autoimmune disorders; however, its association with atopic disorders remains controversial. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the association between CU and the atopic disorders: atopic dermatitis (AD), asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC), using data from reputed databases. It included original data on the association (prevalence, incidence or risk) between CU and any atopic disorder(s) and screened a total of 8,108 articles, ultimately including 38 studies that met all inclusion criteria. 

It found the estimated pooled point prevalence of AD, asthma and ARC in CU as 7%, 12% and 22%, respectively and pooled odds ratio as 2.75 for AD, 1.87 for asthma and 2.94 for ARC. 

This study showed that the pooled point prevalences of atopic disorders in CU are comparable to the general population. However, studies that compared prevalences with controls from the same population found a significantly increased risk of atopic disorders in CU. These observations should be interpreted with caution, as high heterogeneity was seen in all analyses.

Source: Zhang DG, Zahid JA, Ali Z, et al. Risk of atopic disorders in patients with chronic urticaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Dermatology. 2023;239(1):32-44.