[Prospective study of the importance of constitutional parameters in the development of eczema in hairdressers and construction workers].
The considerable rate of professional hand eczema in hairdressers, especially in young ones, emphasizes the necessity of practicable methods for early diagnosis of risk and manifestation of eczema. Therefore, we investigated different constitutional parameters of the skin (hyperhidrosis, dyshidrosis and acrocyanosis of the hands, seborrhea, sebostasis, white dermographism) in a prospective study of 210 hairdressers' and 95 bricklayers' apprentices over 3 years. In addition, the alkali resistance and the permeability of the horny layers (by nitrazine yellow) were examined every year in each of the probands. Among other results dyshidrosis and sebostasis proved to be statistically relevant in the development of hand eczema, whereas no statistic causality was seen for acrocyanosis and hyperhidrosis. Risk of eczema could not be diagnosed early by alcali resistance tests. Frequent wet-work and insufficient skin protection were further factors causing eczema, especially in atopic subjects. There was also a statistically relevant correlation between a periumbilical eczema (caused by metallic buttons on jeans), indicating allergy against nickel, and pierced earlobes. The results of this prospective study show that by simple clinical methods serious risks of eczema in hairdressers and bricklayers can be detected already in the first years of work. Several practical recommendations for prevention of occupational eczema in hairdressers are given.