Prevalence and Characteristics of Chronic Hand Eczema Among Adults in Denmark: A General Population-Based Study

Background: The epidemiology of chronic hand eczema (CHE) remains poorly examined.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of CHE in a general adult population and describe the characteristics of affected individuals.

Methods: We investigated the prevalence and characteristics of CHE using a random sample from the general Danish population (The Danish Skin Cohort). CHE was defined as eczema on the hands or wrists during a minimum of three consecutive months or reoccurrence of hand eczema at least twice within 12 months.

Results: Out of 11 166 adults, 1306 experienced hand eczema (HE) at some point in their lifetime. Within the last 12 months, 408 (3.7%) experienced HE, of which 332 (81.4%) reported CHE. The crude 1-year period prevalence of CHE was 3.0% (95% confidence interval (CI), 2.7%-3.3%) while the standardised prevalence was 3.5% (95% CI, 3.3%-3.6%). Among adults with CHE, 70.8% were female, and the mean age was 48.0 years (standard deviation 16.6 years). Most individuals with CHE had two relapses (n = 309, 93.1%), while n = 206, 61.1%, had HE for more than 3 months. Compared to HE, CHE was more likely diagnosed by a dermatologist and affect the fingers and back of the hand.

Conclusion: The standardised prevalence was 3.5% (95% CI, 3.3%-3.6%) and 4.2% (95% CI, 4.0%-4.4%) for CHE and HE, respectively. We identified a large overlap between HE and CHE (81.4%) in adults from the general population, indicating that many individuals affected by eczema on the hands may experience a chronic course.