[Prevalence of atopic dermatitis in 6-14 year old children in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico].

Atopic dermatitis is a frequent chronic dermatosis in children.To determine the prevalence of atopic dermatitis in a pediatric population from Morelia, Michoacan.An observational, descriptive and comparative study was done to estimate the prevalence and underdiagnosis of atopic dermatitis in children and teenagers from Morelia, Michoacan (n=9578). This study had a sensitivity of 0.87 and a specificity of 0.92.A prevalence of 10.1% and 5.4% was found in children from 6 to 10 years old and teenagers from 11 to 16 years old. The diagnosis was done in only 20% of all cases. The high underdiagnosis suggests taking emergent actions of preventive medicine.The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in pediatric population from Morelia is similar of that reported in the United States and less than of Mexico City.