Abstract
Background Hand eczema (HE) is common and may follow a chronic disease course. So far, prospective studies investigating the risk factors for disease progression as a prerequisite for targeted prevention are scarce. Objective To evaluate the overall association of HE‐associated factors with clinical and quality of life (QoL) improvement during a follow‐up of 2 years. Methods Data of the prospective patient cohort (N = 199) followed by the Swiss chronic HE (CHE) registry on long‐term patient management (CARPE‐CH) were analysed by means of both classic regression and semantic map analyses. Results Both severity of HE and QoL significantly improved over the period of 2 years (P < .001). However, 20% of patients had moderate to severe HE after 2 years of follow‐up. As factors associated with an unfavourable CHE clinical course and QoL, environmental exposures, male sex, occupational skin disease, job loss or change at baseline, allergic contact dermatitis, a chronic disease course, palmar localization and widespread eczema were identified. Conclusions Analysis of prospective data from CARPE‐CH shows a complex pattern of associations among variables as shown by semantic map and classic statistical analyses. Factors related to occupational exposure had the highest impact on CHE.
Cazzaniga, Simone