Abstract

Introduction:  Contact dermatitis or contact eczema is an inflammatory response of the skin to exogenous stimulus, the contactant or antigen, that may be irritant and /or allergen. Contact dermatitis is one of the commonest dermatological diseases and accounts for 10-15% of new patients. Clinico-epidemiological surveillance is of great importance for the clinical and systematic understanding of the disease.

Aims and Objective: To determine the Clinico-epidemiological profile of patients with contact dermatitis.

Material and Methods: Sixty consecutive patients with clinical diagnosis of contact dermatitis attending outpatient clinic between July 2018 and April 2019 were enrolled for the study. Clinical details regarding age, gender, occupation, onset, duration and progress of dermatitis, sites of dermatitis, seasonal variations, aggravating factors, and personal and family history of atopy and various clinical patterns were recorded.

Results: There were 41 (68.3%) men and 19 (31.7%) women aged between 28 and 79 (Mean 56.2) years. The duration of dermatitis varied from 1 month to 24 years. Seasonal exacerbation was reported by 28 (46.7%) patients. Most common clinical pattern was acro-facial dermatitis in 16 (27%) patients followed by ten (16.7%) patients with dermatitis in airborne contact dermatitis (ABCD) pattern. Both hand dermatitis and acral dermatitis was noted in eight (13%) patients each, facial dermatitis in 6 (10%) patients and mixed pattern in the remaining.

Conclusion: With change in the topography and environmental conditions including occupation the epidemiology, aetiological correlation and the clinical patterns of contact dermatitis varies amomg people.

Present study shows that prevalence of contact dermatitis in general population is high, thus, once we identify the causative agent the preventive and protective measures can be imposed/taken which forms the keystone of successful management and reduction in the number of cases of contact dermatitis.