Abstract\r\nBackground: Hand eczema is common in the general population and affects women twice as often as men. It is\r\nalso the most frequent occupational skin disease. The economic consequences are considerable for society and for\r\nthe affected individuals.\r\nMethods: To investigate the prevalence and incidence of hand eczema and to evaluate risk factors for\r\ndevelopment of hand eczema in young adults. Subjects and methods; This is a prospective follow-up study of 2,403\r\nyoung adults, 16 ââ?¬â?? 19 years old in 1995 and aged 29 ââ?¬â?? 32 years, 13 years later, in 2008. They completed a postal\r\nquestionnaire that included questions regarding one-year prevalence of hand eczema, childhood eczema, asthma,\r\nrhino-conjunctivitis and factors considered to affect hand eczema such as hand-washing, washing and cleaning,\r\ncooking, taking care of small children and usage of moisturisers. These factors were evaluated with the\r\nmultinominal logistic regression analysis.\r\nResults: The one-year prevalence of hand eczema was 15.8% (females 20.3% and males 10.0%, p < 0.001). The\r\nincidence was 11.6 cases per 1000 person-years (females 14.3 and males 5.2, p < 0.001). Childhood eczema was the\r\nmost important risk factor for hand eczema. The odds ratios were 13.17 when having hand eczema 1995 and 2008\r\ncompared to 5.17 in 2008 (p < 0.001). A high frequency of hand washing was important in predicting hand eczema\r\nonly when having 1-year prevalence 2008, OR 1.02 (p = 0.038).\r\nConclusions: After 13 years an increased 1-year prevalence of hand eczema was found. The significant risk factors\r\nfor hand eczema changed over time from endogenous to exogenous factors.
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