Time trends in Swedish patch test data from 1992 to 2000. A multi‐centre study based on age‐ and sex‐adjusted results of the Swedish standard series

Abstract

Allergic contact dermatitis is recognized as a public health problem and some major allergens have been subject to intervention aiming at lowering skin exposure. There is an obvious interest in evaluating the effect of such interventions. Population studies are difficult to perform and epidemiological studies based on clinical data from testing patients with contact dermatitis are common surrogates. Our objective was to gather Swedish clinical standard series test data on two occasions in order to monitor trends in sensitization rates. Consecutive patch test results from the Swedish standard series were collected from 9 centres from 1991 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2001. In total, 3680 and 3790 patients, respectively, were included. Crude, age-adjusted and age-stratified prevalence are given separately for women and men. Our top 10 allergens are much in line with newly published European test data. Significant changes among those allergens are increasing sensitization rates for Myroxylon pereirae and decreasing rates for colophony, 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-iso-thi-azo-lin-3-one, Amerchol L 101 and thiuram mix. Nickel allergy is decreasing among young women. Among less common allergens, a noteworthy increase of sensitization to 4-phenyl-en-diamine is found. In conclusion, significant trends in sensitization rates of important allergen, reflecting changes in exposure, have been found.

Mobile Phones: Potential Sources of Nickel and Cobalt Exposure for Metal Allergic Patients

“…After the implementation of nickel regulation in the EU, nickel sensitization was significantly less among younger age groups, particularly in women. [14][15][16][17] In contrast to the findings in Europe, the prevalence of nickel allergy has increased steadily among all age groups in the United States. 11 A recent epidemiologic study of nickel allergy in America and China 18 found a significant increase in the prevalence of nickel allergy in the U.S. since 1970; a significant increase in the prevalence of nickel allergy in China was also seen.…”

“…40 Although a decrease in nickel sensitization was seen after the implementation of regulations in Europe, the prevalence of cobalt allergy remained the same. [14][15][16][17]39,41 A study performed in Denmark to determine whether cobalt had replaced nickel in jewelry after the implementation of the EU Nickel Directive showed that cobalt was detected in only 1.1% of the items. 42 Another study looked at the cobalt release from cell phones.…”

Lifestyle and Nickel Allergy in a Swedish Adolescent Population: Effects of Piercing, Tattooing and Orthodontic Appliances

“…For practical reasons, reading ofthe patch test was carried out on day 4, which is recommended when only one reading is performed. Approximately 10% of patch-test reactions can be lost due to late-appearing reactions (20) and consequently, may introduce misclassification in patch-test results.…”

Colophony: Rosin in Unmodified and Modified Form

“…A relative frequency of positive reactions to gum rosin ranging from 2.2% to 5.2% with a mean of 4.0% (3.2% men and 4.5% female) was found. In a Swedish study (Lindberg et al 2007), a certain decrease in the prevalence of reactions to gum rosin was observed when comparing data from 1992 with those from 2000. More than 3,000 consecutive patients were tested in different clinics at these two occasions.…”

“…Furthermore, this study showed a clear decrease in the prevalence in the ages <40 years compared to that seen in the older ages for men (2.0% compared with 3.4%) and also for women (2.0% compared with 5.4%). As the use of rosincontaining products for treatment of leg ulcers has been an important source for contact allergy to gum rosin, it might be one of the explanations behind the higher prevalence of allergy in the older group (Lindberg et al 2007).…”