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Pattern of contact sensitization in patients with and without atopic dermatitis in a hospital‐based clinical database
Author(s) -
Clemmensen Kim Katrine Bjerring,
Thomsen Simon Francis,
Jemec Gregor Borut Ernst,
Agner Tove
Publication year - 2014
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.12229
Subject(s) - atopic dermatitis , medicine , patch test , dermatology , contact dermatitis , sensitization , allergic contact dermatitis , atopy , allergy , immunology
Summary Background Both atopic dermatitis and contact sensitization are common conditions; however, a definite understanding of the relationship between contact sensitization and atopic dermatitis has not been reached. Objectives In this descriptive study, we investigated the differences between positive patch test reactions in patients with and without atopic dermatitis in a patch test cohort, and explored the influence of disease severity. Patients/materials/methods Patch test results, information on atopic dermatitis and demographic variables were taken from a database, including all patients patch tested at B ispebjerg and R oskilde H ospitals from January 2009 to January 2013. Severe atopic dermatitis was defined as systemic therapy or hospitalization resulting from atopic dermatitis. All other patients with atopic dermatitis were defined as having mild/moderate disease. Results The study included 2221 patients: 293 patients with atopic dermatitis and 1928 without. Forty‐one per cent of patients with and 46.2% of patients without atopic dermatitis had at least one positive patch test reaction ( p = 0.092). More patients with severe atopic dermatitis than patients with non‐severe atopic dermatitis had multiple positive patch test reactions (19.4% versus 10.0%, p = 0.046). Conclusions Overall, we found similar frequencies of positive patch test reactions in patients with and without atopic dermatitis. However, a higher frequency of multiple sensitizations was found in patients with severe atopic dermatitis.