HAND ECZEMA IN A PROSPECTIVELY-FOLLOWED COHORT OF OFFICE-WORKERS

A cohort of initially 111 office apprentices was prospectively followe d for the duration of their training (2 and 3 years, respectively). Th e point prevalence of (slight) irritant or atopic hand eczema was 18.9 % in the initial and 25.0% in the final examinations. Altogether, 37 c ases of (slight) hand eczema were noted within the study period; of th ese, 10 qualified for a more conservative definition of ''hand eczema' '. Expressed in a person-time-model. the incidence rates were 18.4 and 4.1 cases per 100 persons per year, respectively. The only significan t risk factor for the development of (slight) irritant or atopic hand eczema within the study period was previous hand eczema - partly as a child, partly during a preceding occupation (e.g., hairdressing). Comp ared to one retrospective study in a cohort of older office employees and to a study sampling the general population, incidence rates were s lightly higher in this study. Such differences may partly be due to di fferent definitions of what has to be considered ''a case of hand ecze ma''. The necessity to (i) communicate on the method of case definitio n and (ii) develop guidelines for case definition in epidemiological s tudies is emphasised.