Real-Life Workup of Chronic Hand Eczema Using a Dedicated Case Report Form: A SIDAPA Multicentre Study.

BACKGROUND

Chronic hand eczema (CHE) is a challenging condition with multifactorial pathomechanisms and a wide clinical polymorphism. It is often resistant to treatments.

OBJECTIVES

To clinically and etiologically investigate CHE patients using a case report form (CRF) developed for this purpose.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study on adult patients affected by CHE was performed from January 2024 to May 2025 in 10 Italian dermatology clinics. Demographic data, clinical features, disease severity and duration, endogenous/environmental risk factors, patch test results, response to past/current treatments, and burden of disease were recorded in the dedicated CRF and analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 207 patients were enrolled in the study (mean age 41.1 ± 15.6 years), 142 (68.6%) females. CHE was moderate-severe in 58.9% of cases, refractory to topical potent corticosteroids in 81.4%. The etiological subtypes were irritant contact dermatitis in 52.7%, allergic contact dermatitis in 24.2%, and atopic dermatitis in 16.9%; clinical subtypes were identified in only 29.0% of patients, the most frequent ones being hyperkeratotic eczema (12.1%) and acute recurrent vesicular eczema (9.7%). The CRF proved to be easy to fill in and useful.

CONCLUSIONS

An accurate clinical workup can lead to CHE clinical and etiological classification in about 80% of patients and may facilitate tailored treatment strategies.