(CNN) Eczema is a common skin condition that can pack a profound psychological punch: People with eczema are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than others without the condition, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a skin disease that's chronic and inflammatory -- meaning it involves an immune system reaction. It affects 18 million adults (more than 7%) and 9.6 million children (13%) in the United States, according to the researchers from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

They analyzed 15 previous studies that included 310,681 eczema patients and about 4.4 million patients without eczema. Study locations were in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

The researchers found that patients with eczema were 44% more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 36% more likely to attempt suicide compared to people without the skin condition. However, due to incomplete data or inconsistent results, the researchers did not find a difference in the risk of completed suicide between eczema patients and others.

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