Prevalence, incidence and predictive factors for hand eczema in young adults – a follow-up study

Abstract

BackgroundHand eczema is common in the general population and affects women twice as often as men. It is also the most frequent occupational skin disease. The economic consequences are considerable for society and for the affected individuals.MethodsTo investigate the prevalence and incidence of hand eczema and to evaluate risk factors for development of hand eczema in young adults. Subjects and methods; This is a prospective follow-up study of 2,403 young adults, 16 – 19 years old in 1995 and aged 29 – 32 years, 13 years later, in 2008. They completed a postal questionnaire that included questions regarding one-year prevalence of hand eczema, childhood eczema, asthma, rhino-conjunctivitis and factors considered to affect hand eczema such as hand-washing, washing and cleaning, cooking, taking care of small children and usage of moisturisers. These factors were evaluated with the multinominal logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe one-year prevalence of hand eczema was 15.8% (females 20.3% and males 10.0%, p < 0.001). The incidence was 11.6 cases per 1000 person-years (females 14.3 and males 5.2, p < 0.001). Childhood eczema was the most important risk factor for hand eczema. The odds ratios were 13.17 when having hand eczema 1995 and 2008 compared to 5.17 in 2008 (p < 0.001). A high frequency of hand washing was important in predicting hand eczema only when having 1-year prevalence 2008, OR 1.02 (p = 0.038).ConclusionsAfter 13 years an increased 1-year prevalence of hand eczema was found. The significant risk factors for hand eczema changed over time from endogenous to exogenous factors.

Predictive factors of self-reported hand eczema in adult Danes: a population-based cohort study with 5-year follow-up

“…Our data confirmed previous literature showing that a history of AD strongly predicted persistent hand eczema (OR 9·0, 95% CI 5·6–14·4) . Moreover, a history of AD was associated with incident hand eczema in adults from the general population (OR 3·0, 95% CI 1·7–5·2), which, to our knowledge, has not been shown previously.…”

“…Moreover, a history of AD was associated with incident hand eczema in adults from the general population (OR 3·0, 95% CI 1·7–5·2), which, to our knowledge, has not been shown previously. The hypothesis that a smaller proportion of cases of AD would be detected among patients with incident hand eczema when compared with persistent cases has been suggested previously, but Johannisson et al . found no significant difference in the proportion of childhood eczema among their group with incident hand eczema in a longitudinal cohort study of young adults.…”

“…Most recent studies investigating predictors of hand eczema in the general population have focused on adolescents . Thus, research focusing on predictors of hand eczema in the adult general population is warranted.…”

Anatomical patterns of dermatitis in adult filaggrin mutation carriers

“…The lifetime prevalence of hand dermatitis in the Health2006 cohort has previously been published. 14 Our results regarding FLG mutations and persistent hand dermatitis are in line with the previous literature 25,26 but are based on answers from the 5-year follow-up survey, enabling stratification on the persistence of hand dermatitis.…”

Do young adults with atopic dermatitis avoid harmful workplace exposure at their first job? A prospective cohort study

“…Childhood atopic eczema has been regarded as a wellestablished risk factor for hand eczema (Johannisson et al 2013;Thyssen et al 2010), but the influence of history of AD prior to entering the workforce on the first job is unknown. One of our preceding analyses based on the Study on Occupational Allergy Risks (SOLAR) indicated that AD was not associated with adolescents' job choices (Radon et al 2006a).…”