Long-lasting contact dermatitis in patients with atopic dermatitis or psoriasis

The aetiology of contact dermatitis, a common inflammatory skin disorder, is often complex and multifactorial.

To describe the characteristics of patients with contact dermatitis who also have concomitant atopic dermatitis or psoriasis.

Between 2000 and 2011, adult patients with chronic contact dermatitis (six months or more), which also had concomitant atopic dermatitis or psoriasis, were recruited for a descriptive retrospective study in a tertiary care Spanish hospital. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used for the analysis of the collected data.

76 patients with atopic dermatitis and 130 with psoriasis were recruited. The most frequent site of contact dermatitis in both groups was the hands. The most frequent clinically relevant allergen in both groups was nickel sulphate. According to multivariate logistic regression, a statistically significant association was found between facial contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis (adjusted OR 0.2 95% CI: 0.05-0.8; P = 0.022). No differences were found between the groups for patch test results (adjusted OR 0.6 CI 95%: 0.3-1.3; P = 0.194).

Although the number of patients was limited, our results provide valuable insight on the behaviour of contact dermatitis in patients with atopic dermatitis and with psoriasis. Facial contact dermatitis was positively associated with atopic dermatitis. No differences were found with respect to rates of contact hypersensitivity or positivity to different allergens.