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A simple tool with which to study the course of chronic hand eczema in clinical practice: a reduced‐item score
Author(s) -
van der Valk Pieter G. M.,
van Gils Robin F.,
Boot Cécile R. L.,
Evers Andrea W. M.,
Donders Rogier,
Alkemade Hans A. C.,
Coenraads Pieter Jan,
Rustemeyer Thomas,
van Mechelen Willem,
Anema Johannes R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/cod.12041
Subject(s) - medicine , hand eczema , clinical practice , severity of illness , disease , chronic disease , physical therapy , allergy , immunology , contact dermatitis
Summary Background Physicians need a simple, disease‐specific tool with which to assess disease severity and the effect of therapeutic intervention in patients with chronic hand eczema. The currently available clinical scoring systems include numerous items, which makes them laborious to complete and limit their use in daily practice. Objective To develop a simple tool with which to assess disease severity of patients with chronic hand eczema. Methods We evaluated two tools, the Hand Eczema Severity Index (HECSI) and the Hand Eczema Area and Severity score, to determine their ability to predict the Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) of disease severity in patients with moderate to severe hand eczema. We used a stepwise reduction analysis to determine a minimal set of significantly contributing items for predicting IGA. Results A three‐item score, based on the highest observed value of induration, fissuring, and scaling, predicted IGA with a correlation of 0.667. The HECSI predicted the IGA with a correlation of 0.675. Conclusion On the basis of this analysis, we propose a simple tool for clinical decision‐making and evaluation of therapeutic intervention in daily practice.