title: Validity of self-reports of hand eczema.
abstract: The validity of questionnaire answers with respect to hand eczema was investigated. Car mechanics, dentists and office workers answered a questionnaire on the occurrence of hand eczema on any occasion during the past 12 months. "Yes"-responders and a random sample of "no"-responders were subsequently interviewed and examined by a dermatologist. 10.0% of the car mechanics, 12.0% of the dentists and 12.5% of the office workers were found to have hand eczema despite previous "no"-answers. In the same populations, 81%, 94% and 80% of the "yes"-answers were confirmed at the clinical examination. Considering false-negative and false-positive answers, the sensitivity was 53-59% and the specificity 96-99% in the 3 groups. The 1-year prevalence changed from self-reported 15% to estimated 21% in the car mechanics, from 15% to 24% in the dentists and from 15% to 23% in the office workers. It is concluded that self-reported 1-year prevalence of hand eczema considerably underestimates the true prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Occupational Dermatology, National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meding
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barregård
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D009790:Occupations; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology