title: Reproducibility of a non-invasive skin irritancy test in a cohort of metalworker trainees.
abstract: The identification of subjects with increased susceptibility to irritants may play an important rôle in the prevention of irritant contact dermatitis. A short and quick method of non-invasive testing for assessing irritant sensitivity was developed by Wilhelm and coworkers in 1990, based on the alkali resistance test of Burckhardt. In order to determine the reproducibility of this screening method, 204 healthy metalworker trainees were tested 2 x according to Wilhelm within an interval of 6 months. No statistically-significant correlation could be shown, indicating that the reproducibility of this screening method is low. Therefore, we propose applying not just a single test for the assessment of skin irritability, but a series of tests, in order to improve the reliability of this kind of testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iliev
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hinnen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Elsner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000468:Alkalies / Q000633:toxicity; D017453:Dermatitis, Irritant / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008669:Metallurgy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D012882:Skin Tests; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D014870:Water Loss, Insensible / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000468:Alkalies; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide