TY - JOUR

T1 - A long-term follow-up study of the Hand Eczema Trial (HET)

T2 - a randomized clinical trial of a secondary preventive programme introduced to Danish healthcare workers

AU - Graversgaard, Christine

AU - Agner, Tove

AU - Jemec, Gregor B. E.

AU - Thomsen, Simon F.

AU - Ibler, Kristina

PY - 2018/5

Y1 - 2018/5

N2 - Background. Preventive skin care programmes have shown beneficial effects on the prevalence and severity of hand eczema, but most trials only report short-term outcomes. One such trial was the randomized Hand Eczema Trial (HET, 2009) investigating the effects of a secondary prevention programme in healthcare workers. Positive results have been reported at 5-month follow-up. Objectives. To examine the long-term (42-47 months) effects of the HET. Methods. The present study was a follow-up questionnaire study on the effect of the intervention. Outcomes were the presence and severity of hand eczema, health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), skin protective behaviour, and knowledge of skin protection. A supplementary outcome was general improvement/worsening of hand eczema. Results. Comparison of the outcomes at follow-up showed no marked differences between the two groups. General improvement was reported by 70% in the intervention group and by 54% in the control group (p=0.25). A small, statistically significant improvement was found regarding HR-QoL in the intervention group only (p=0.015). Conclusions. The impact of an intervention that is effective after 5 months is attenuated over time, with no long-term effect on the outcomes examined. We suggest that skin care education should be repeated at regular intervals

AB - Background. Preventive skin care programmes have shown beneficial effects on the prevalence and severity of hand eczema, but most trials only report short-term outcomes. One such trial was the randomized Hand Eczema Trial (HET, 2009) investigating the effects of a secondary prevention programme in healthcare workers. Positive results have been reported at 5-month follow-up. Objectives. To examine the long-term (42-47 months) effects of the HET. Methods. The present study was a follow-up questionnaire study on the effect of the intervention. Outcomes were the presence and severity of hand eczema, health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), skin protective behaviour, and knowledge of skin protection. A supplementary outcome was general improvement/worsening of hand eczema. Results. Comparison of the outcomes at follow-up showed no marked differences between the two groups. General improvement was reported by 70% in the intervention group and by 54% in the control group (p=0.25). A small, statistically significant improvement was found regarding HR-QoL in the intervention group only (p=0.015). Conclusions. The impact of an intervention that is effective after 5 months is attenuated over time, with no long-term effect on the outcomes examined. We suggest that skin care education should be repeated at regular intervals

KW - hand dermatitis

KW - hand eczema

KW - long-term follow-up

KW - occupational hand dermatitis

KW - occupational skin diasease

KW - prevention programme

KW - randomized clinical trial

KW - secondary prevention programme

U2 - 10.1111/cod.12964

DO - 10.1111/cod.12964

M3 - Journal article

VL - 78

SP - 329

EP - 334

JO - Contact Dermatitis

JF - Contact Dermatitis

SN - 0105-1873

IS - 5

ER -