Patient Reported Improvement After Patch Testing and Allergen Avoidance Counseling: A Retrospective Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Our objectives were to assess patient-reported improvement after patch testing at the 2–3-month follow-up visit in patients referred for patch testing with relevant positive patch test reactions at the University of California, San Francisco. METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses of patients patch tested between 2013 and 2016 who returned for a follow-up visit approximately 2–3 months after patch testing. We examined positive patch test results considered of definite, probable or possible relevance to the patient’s eczematous eruptions. Patients reported improvement after patch testing as a percentage: 0–100%. Patients were categorized into four groups: (1) those that reported no improvement or worsened, (2) those that reported > 0% and ≤ 60% improvement, (3) those that reported > 60% but < 100% improvement and (4) those that reported 100% improvement. Secondary measures included the association of allergens, gender, age and location of the rash. RESULTS: The majority (81%) of patients seen at follow-up reported improvement after patch testing. Women reported more improvement than men with statistical significance. Notably, there does not appear to be a statistically significant relationship in patient-reported improvement and age, atopy, strength of a the patient’s positive reactions, number of positive reactions and follow-up time or with potential systemic contact allergens (i.e., balsam of Peru, nickel, chrome and cobalt). CONCLUSION: We find the large percentage of patients that self-report global benefit from patch testing encouraging, as we believe this to be a powerful measure of disease and symptom activity, as well as quality of life. The gender differences we found contradict the previous literature.