[Hand eczema registries: Background, value and future prospects : Registry data in hand eczema research]

Population-based studies on hand eczema (HE) show a 1-year prevalence up to 10.0% of which 5-7% are severe chronic HE (CHE) which can severely impair the life of those affected. Registry data can help to investigate and optimize burden of disease as well as healthcare of HE in a real-life setting.

To assess how data from registries have been used in studies concerning HE. What is the benefit of registry data and which limitations occur when researchers use registry data in their studies?

This is a review of publications where registry data were used in studies concerning HE. Most of the publications included in this review are from Germany, but some studies are from other countries like Denmark and Switzerland.

Currently, only Germany and Switzerland have established a disease-specific registry for CHE. The chronic hand eczema registry with the acronym CARPE assesses the characteristics of CHE as well as treatment and course of the diseases in a real-life setting. In Denmark, data from public registries (Danish National Board of Industrial Injuries Registry) were used to identify patients with occupational HE in order interview them using a questionnaire. In Saarland and north Bavaria, registries for occupational skin diseases were established in the 1990s, and more than 90% of the patients registered in these had HE.

Diseases registries for HE can generate considerable data to describe characteristics of HE patients in a dermatological setting as well as the treatments prescribed. The completeness of data can be assessed in disease registries, while this is not possible when using public registry data.