Impact of hand eczema severity on quality of life

BACKGROUND: Hand eczema is a common disease seen in dermatological practice comprising of a spectrum ranging from mild disease to a severe distressing and chronic course with a negative impact on the quality of life. AIM: To assess the impact of hand eczema severity on quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with hand eczema were enrolled in a prospective study. Disease severity was assessed by hand eczema severity index (HECSI) score and quality of life by dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-six patients participated of which 22 (47.8%) were males and 24 (52.2%) females. The commonest age group affected among men and women was 50-59 years (31.8%) and 40-49 years (41.7%) respectively. History of atopy was found in 23.9% and 63% had persistent disease. In 28 (60.9%), the trigger was washing soaps and detergents of which 21 (87.5%) were housewives. Of those employed, 27.7% reported loss of work days. The mean HECSI score was 14.46 (S.D = 20.98) and mean DLQI score was 9.54 (S.D = 5.62). Gender, age, occupation and duration of disease did not significantly affect the quality of life or disease severity. Increased episodes of eczema (>4 episodes/year) showed a statistically significant correlation with DLQI (P value = 0.021). There was no significant correlation between HECSI score and DLQI in this study. CONCLUSION: Majority of the patients with hand eczema had a significant impairment of their quality of life. The impairment of quality of life in this study was mainly dependent on increased frequency of the eruptions and not on hand eczema severity.