Systemic therapy and the use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with recognized occupational hand eczema in Denmark: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Farnam Barati Sedeh
  • Niels E. Ebbehøj
  • Agner, Tove
  • Tanja K. Carøe

Background: Concerns have been raised that a chronic course of hand eczema (HE) could be fostered by a lack of efficient treatment at an early stage. Objectives: First, to assess the prevalence of systemic treatment in patients with chronic occupational HE (OHE) and relate this to demographic data, HE severity, and atopic dermatitis (AD). Second, to explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the same population. Methods: Baseline data were obtained from a registry-based study including patients with recognized OHE in a 2-year period in Denmark, comprising a total of 2703 workers. A follow-up questionnaire after 4 to 5 years included questions on disease severity and treatments. Results: A total of 1565 participants responded to the questionnaire, and of these 1203 had ongoing HE at follow-up and were included in the study. In total, 10.0% had received systemic therapy, whereas this share was 13.3% in those with self-reported moderate-to-severe HE. Age >35 years, previous or current AD, and severe eczema were factors related to use of systemic treatment. Use of CAM was reported by 6.2% of the study population. Conclusions: We suggest that chronicity of HE may be perpetuated by the lack of efficient treatment.

Original languageEnglish
JournalContact Dermatitis
Volume82
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)272-278
Number of pages7
ISSN0105-1873
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

    Research areas

  • chronic eczema, hand eczema, occupational hand eczema, systemic treatment, treatment of hand eczema, wet work

ID: 263006145