Atopic background in patients with occupational hand eczema

Of 368 patients with hand eczema examined during the years 1978-79, at a Department of Occupational Dermatology, 39% had a history of atopic disease (dermatitis, asthma, or rhinitis). 28% of the patients had or had had atopic dermatitis. The % of atopics in the patient material was highest in the age range 20-24 years, in which 57% of the patients had a history of atopic dermatitis, compared with only 11% in the age range above 35 years. Of all patients with a history of atopy, 22% had developed allergic contact dermatitis, while the corresponding figure for non-atopics was 45% (p less than = 0.001). Positive patch test reactions occurred in a significantly smaller number of individuals with past or present atopic disease than in non-atopics. Atopics had not changed jobs because of hand eczema to a greater extent, but had healed to a lesser extent after change of occupation than non-atopics (p less than 0.01).