title: [Therapy of hand eczema. What can we learn from the published clinical studies?].
abstract: Hand eczema is a very common skin disease, which can be induced by different causes. Although many interventions ranging from topical corticosteroids and UV therapy to oral cyclosporine and retinoids are available, the treatment of hand eczema can be very difficult and frustrating. The objective of our study was to assess the external evidence of different treatment modalities for hand eczema. Electronic databases (Cochrane, MEDLINE, Embase, Pascal, Jicst-Eplus, Amed) were systematically searched for clinical trials on therapy for hand eczema. Additionally, four general medical journals (BMJ, JAMA, Lancet, NEJM) and 17 specialists dermatological journals were hand searched from 1977 to August 2004. A total of 100 studies were found and 31 identified as randomised clinical trials (RCTs) dealing with different interventions. Due to the poor quality of most of these RCTs, they are inadequate as a guide to clinical practice. There is a need for high-quality RCTs on therapy for hand eczema regarding established as well as new treatment options taking different subgroups of hand eczema into consideration.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Klinische Sozialmedizin mit Schwerpunkt Berufs- und Umweltdermatologie, Universitätsklinikum, Heidelberg. thomas.diepgen@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Diepgen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Coenraads
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014467:Ultraviolet Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones