Is Obesity Linked to Pediatric Hidradenitis Suppurativa?

TOPLINE:

Children with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are more likely to have obesity than those without the condition, a review suggests.

METHODOLOGY:

• To evaluate the relationship between HS and obesity in children, an association that has been established in adults, researchers conducted a scoping review of 12 studies, which included one case series, five cross-sectional studies, one retrospective case-control study, three retrospective chart reviews, one retrospective cohort study, and one retrospective monocentric study.
• A total of 2911 pediatric patients with HS (77.4% girls) were included; mean age of onset was 11.4 years, and mean age at diagnosis was 14.5 years.
• Most patients had mild to moderate disease (Hurley stages I and II, 46.1% and 41.3%, respectively).

TAKEAWAY:

• In total, 42.3% of the patients were classified as having obesity (body mass index [BMI], > 30), and 14% had overweight (BMI, 25.0-29.9).
• After adjusting for sex, age, and race, adolescents with HS were 2.48 times more likely to have obesity than those without HS (P = .001) in one of the studies, comparable to the odds ratios from 1.74 to 4.42 in adults.
• A positive family history of HS was reported in 28.1% of patients.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our scoping review highlights the association between obesity and HS,” the authors wrote. “It is important to keep in mind that overemphasizing the role of obesity may lead to neglect of the other determinants of HS development and may stigmatize patients with HS,” they added, noting that an interdisciplinary approach to treatment “involving dermatologists, pediatricians, endocrinologists, and nutritionists, is useful to address the broad spectrum of health issues faced by these patients.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Shanti Mehta, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was published online on September 12, 2024, in Pediatric Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The retrospective nature of the studies precluded definitive conclusions about the causality between obesity and HS. Additionally, findings were limited by inconsistent reporting of Hurley staging and family history.

DISCLOSURES:

This work did not receive any specific funding. One author reported receiving honoraria and serving in an advisory role for various pharmaceutical companies, both unrelated to this work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.