Incidence of Hand Eczema—A Population-Based Retrospective Study

When etiological relationship is of interest, the incidence rate is a preferred measure. The aim of the present retrospective study was to estimate the incidence rate of self-reported hand eczema in a sample from the general population and to study the relation of this to age, sex, and atopy. A ques...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of investigative dermatology 2004-04, Vol.122 (4), p.873-877
Hauptverfasser: Meding, Birgitta, Järvholm, Bengt
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:When etiological relationship is of interest, the incidence rate is a preferred measure. The aim of the present retrospective study was to estimate the incidence rate of self-reported hand eczema in a sample from the general population and to study the relation of this to age, sex, and atopy. A questionnaire was mailed to 3000 individuals aged 20–65 y, randomly selected from the population register of Göteborg, Sweden. This gave a response rate of 73.9%. Questions were asked about ever having had hand eczema, time of onset of the disease, history of childhood eczema, and history of asthma/hay fever. The crude incidence rate of self-reported hand eczema was 5.5 cases per 1000 person-years (females 7.1 and males 4.0). There was no difference, however, in incidence rate between women and men above 30 y of age. In a Poisson regression analysis, female sex, childhood eczema, and asthma/hay fever were all significantly associated with hand eczema, but only at ages below 30 y. A moderate influence of recall bias and a probable tendency to underreport imply that the incidence rates presented are to be considered as minimum rates.
ISSN:0022-202X
1523-1747
1523-1747
DOI:10.1111/j.0022-202X.2004.22406.x