Descriptive epidemiology of contact dermatitis in a university student population.

BACKGROUND

The frequency of irritant and allergic contact dermatitis has been compared in relatively few studies.

OBJECTIVE

This report describes the frequency of visits by university students to campus prepaid health plan dermatologists for irritant and allergic contact dermatitis compared with visits for other types of dermatitis and other skin problems.

METHODS

Prospective recording of specific dermatologic diagnoses was performed for all visits of students to student health service dermatologists. Diagnoses were then tabulated, rank ordered, and compared.

RESULTS

Irritant dermatitis represented 2.3% of all first visits and 1.6% of all total visits. Allergic contact dermatitis accounted for 3.1% of all first and 2.4% of all total visits. Other types of dermatitis were found in 12.5% of all first and 11.1% of all total visits. Contact dermatitis ranked first among types of dermatitis, being seen in 30.0% of first visits for dermatitis and in 27.0% of total visits for dermatitis.

CONCLUSION

In this prospective study, contact dermatitis represented a relatively large proportion of visits for dermatitis. Slightly more allergic than irritant contact dermatitis was found. This is at variance with findings in industrial settings that irritant dermatitis generally is more common than allergic contact dermatitis.