Although antihistamines are widely used for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD), there is no high-level evidence to suggest that non-sedating antihistamines reduce itch in patients with AD, or that sedating antihistamines provide benefit in controlling AD symptoms (except perhaps sleep and AD co-morbidities, such as allergic rhinitis), a recent study found. The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) provided data on physician visits from 2003-2012. Sedating and non-sedating antihistamine use was identified at AD visits. There were 990,000 annual visits for AD. Researchers found:

• Antihistamines were prescribed for AD in a significant proportion of visits across physician specialties (16-44%).
• Dermatologists and pediatricians primarily used sedating antihistamines (58-70%), while the majority of family/general practitioners, internists, and other specialists prescribed non-sedating antihistamines for AD (55-100%).