TESTING WITH THE AUSTRIAN STANDARD PATCH TEST SERIES - TEST EPIDEMIOLOGIC DATA AND RESULTS

Patch testing for contact allergies is routinely performed by applying a ''standard series'' of the most frequently occurring contact allerg ens. Internationally ''established'' standard series have to be adapte d to country- and population-specific factors (i.e., distribution of g ender and age, occupational behavior, environmental factors etc.). In 1992 and 1993 altogether 11,690 patients were patch tested in 14 Austr ian test centers with the ''Austrian standard patch test series'' as r ecommended by the working group ''Contact Allergy'' of the Austrian So ciety of Dermatology. Altogether data on 11,544 patients were complete and are analyzed in this study. 71.5% of the test population were fem ale with an average age of 39 years, whereas the male patients had an average age of 40 years. 38.1% of the patients were younger than 30 ye ars, 47.8% were in the group ranging from 31 to 60 years and 14% of th e tested patients were older than 60 years. Cutaneous sensitization wa s found in 51% of the people tested with the ''Austrian standard serie s''. This proper tion varied between 40.8 and 61.4% from center to cen ter (with more than 100 tested persons). 15 (60%) of the 25 test subst ances in 1992 and 17 (68%) in 1993 surpassed the limit of a sensitizat ion frequency of 1%. The ''hit list'' of substances did not differ qua litatively from those of other international studies, with only one re markable, well described ''Austrian-specific'' exception, namely the m ercury-containing thiomersal (second place). In the case of nickel, pa lladium, cobalt and thiomersal there was a strong preponderance in you nger patients, whereas neomycin, colophonium, balsam of Peru, alcohole s lanae and fragrance-mix showed positive reactions predominantly in t he older population. The fundamental difficulties in adapting internat ional standard series and compiling country-specific series are discus sed.