Quality of life among patients with hand eczema – A prospective study
Keywords:
Eczema, contact dermatitis, hand eczema, occupational dermatoses, quality of lifeAbstract
Background Hand eczema is a common and distressing condition. Most of the cases of hand eczema have a multifactorial etiology. In genetically predisposed individuals, environmental exposure to allergens and irritants result in development of chronic hand eczema. As hands are important for routine day to day activities, hand eczema can deteriorate the quality of life. Objectives The aim of this study was to study the effect of hand eczema on the quality of life. Patients and Methods Thirty consecutive patients (M : F = 11 : 19) with hand eczema were examined and disease severity was assessed by hand eczema severity index (HECSI) score; and quality of life by dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire. The data was evaluated using statistical tests like frequency, chi-square, oneway ANOVA, t-test etc. Results The study included 11 (36.67%) men aged between 23 and 54 years and 19 (63.33%) women aged between 28 and 49 years. The majority of patients were in the 21–50 years age group (86.67%; n=26). Eight (26.67%) patients had a history of atopy. The most common occupational group among females was housewives (63.15%, n=12) while among the males the most common occupational group was farm workers (54.54%, n=6). The mean±S.D. for DLQI was 5.48±4.19 and for HECSI was 16.34±12.25. There was no statistically significant impact of age, occupation and duration of disease on DLQI or disease severity except gender (p-value being 0.021 for DLQI; 0.029 for HECSI). There was no statistically significant correlation between HECSI score and DLQI. Conclusion  Hand eczema is a common problem predominantly seen in females in the middle age groups which can severely impair the quality of life.ÂReferences
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