1. ^*Occupational Dermatology, National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm, Sweden
2. ^†Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council, Department of Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden
3. ^‡Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Correspondence: Birgitta Meding, Occupational Dermatology, National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm SE-113 91, Sweden. Email: birgitta.meding@nivl.se

Received 14 May 2003; Revised 23 October 2003; Accepted 29 October 2003.

Abstract

When etiological relationship is of interest, the incidence rate is a preferred measure. The aim of the present retrospective study was to estimate the incidence rate of self-reported hand eczema in a sample from the general population and to study the relation of this to age, sex, and atopy. A questionnaire was mailed to 3000 individuals aged 20–65 y, randomly selected from the population register of Göteborg, Sweden. This gave a response rate of 73.9%. Questions were asked about ever having had hand eczema, time of onset of the disease, history of childhood eczema, and history of asthma/hay fever. The crude incidence rate of self-reported hand eczema was 5.5 cases per 1000 person-years (females 7.1 and males 4.0). There was no difference, however, in incidence rate between women and men above 30 y of age. In a Poisson regression analysis, female sex, childhood eczema, and asthma/hay fever were all significantly associated with hand eczema, but only at ages below 30 y. A moderate influence of recall bias and a probable tendency to underreport imply that the incidence rates presented are to be considered as minimum rates.