Patch Testing in Children and Adolescents With Suspected Allergic Contact Dermatitis.

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) in children is not uncommon. The reported rates of positive patch test in various series in children with suspected ACD varies from 32.6% to 67%. At present, patch testing is the only reliable test to identify various contact allergens in a suspected case of ACD. The aim of this study was to find out the common allergens responsible for ACD in children and adolescents. Patch testing was carried out with Indian Standard Series. Additional allergens were added wherever implicated from history. Seventy-four patients were recruited during the study period, of which analysis was performed in 70 patients. Thirty-eight (54.3%) patients had one or more positive patch test results. The most common allergen found to be positive was nickel sulfate. The clinically relevant reactions were found in 78.94% of patients. The relevance of positive patch test reactions were higher in children (3-9 years) compared with adolescents (10-19 years) and it was found to be statistically significant (P=.030). ACD is a significant health problem in children, compromising their quality of life, therefore age should not be a bar for performing patch testing to diagnose this clinical condition.