The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of essential oil on oxidative stress, immunity, and skin condition in atopic dermatitis (AD) induced mice.

This study was a 3×3 factorial design. Factors were oil type (Lavender, Thyme, and 2:1 mixture of lavender and thyme oil [blending oil]) and treatment period (0 day, 7 days, and 21 days). The samples were 45 mice with AD and randomly assigned to nine groups of five mice per group. The dependent variables such as superoxide radical, IgE, degranulated mast cells, and epidermal thickness were measured. Data were collected from February to April in 2014. Descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA, Two-way ANOVA, and Tukey's HSD test were performed using the SPSS WIN 20.0 program.

Dependent variables were not statistically significantly different by the three oil types (p>.05). Essential oils such as lavender, thyme, and blending oil were all effective in reducing AD symptoms and especially 2:1 blending oil were most effective. There were statistically significant differences by the three treatment periods in all dependent variables (p<.001). There were statistically significant interactions between oil types and treatment periods in all dependent variables (p<.01). For decreasing superoxide radical, degranulated mast cells, and epidermal thickness, 2:1 mixed oil should be applied for at least 21 days. Otherwise to reduce IgE, 2:1 mixed oil should be used for at least 7 days.

These findings provide bases for developing effective interventions for AD patients to manage their AD symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to verify prevalence rates of atopic dermatitis (AD) in middle school students in Korea and to define AD and associated factors.

This study was conducted using secondary analysis of raw data from the ‘The 6th Korean National Adolescent Health Behavior Survey, 2010’ conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control. The participants were 37,570 students. General characteristics and health behavior-related characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ²-test and logistic regression analysis.

Results are as follows. 1. There were 8,494 middle school students (22.6%), who had been diagnosed with AD during the last 12 months. 2. Factors associated with AD in middle school students were gender (p< .001), grade level (p= .001), father’s education (p< .001), mother’s education (p= .032), regular dietary habits (breakfasts, p= .025; lunches; p= .003), stress (p< .001), recognition of subjective awareness of one’s health conditions (p< .001), hand washing before meals at school (p= .013), and cessation education for both smoking (p= .002) and alcohol (p= .031).

Results of the study indicate that in order to alleviate AD symptoms in these students, there is a need to develop nursing interventions and education programs taking into consideration these variables and verifying the effects of interventions and programs.