Sensitizations to allergens of the European standard series at the Department of Dermatology in Zurich 1990-1994.

Background: For planning and evaluation of preventive activities against contact dermatitis, it is important to detect trends in contact sensitization.

Objective And Methods: We performed a computer-aided analysis of the patch test results of 5,565 patients tested with the European standard allergens consecutively from 1990 to 1994 in our patch test clinic.

Results: The male/female ratio was 42.4/ 57.6%. Sixty-one percent of the patients were < 45 years. Hands, face and lower legs were the major localizations of eczema. The largest occupational groups were office workers (21%), houseworkers and cleaning personnel (18%) and pensioners (10%). The highest sensitization rates were found for nickel (18.5%) and fragrance mix (9.6%). An increase of sensitizations to fragrance mix and balsam of Peru in both sexes and a decrease in nickel and cobalt sensitizations for females and potassium dichromate reactions for males were observed.

Conclusion: Our data show considerable changes in the frequency of contact sensitizations that warrant further analytic studies.