Patients with suspected occupational hand eczema are recruited to the study on basis of their referral from general practitioner to dermatologist. Patients are randomised to either control or intervention group. The control group is treated and followed-up by the dermatologist they have been referred to, while the intervention group is treated and followed-up at Gentofte Hospital skin department with a maximum waiting time of 3 weeks. At the skin department at Gentofte Hospital, the patients in the intervention group receive patient education in prevention and treatment of hand eczema, glove counselling, personal product screening by a chemistry engineer, extended allergy testing and the standard treatment of hand eczema. Patients in both the control and intervention group are asked to fill out a questionnaire at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after inclusion in the study. The questionnaire contains questions about quality of life, severity of hand exzema, jobsituation, use of healthcare service and use of medicine. Furthermore, prescriptions of medicine are registered in both control and intervention group at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.
Randomised controlled trial examining the effect of decreased waiting time for the first doctors' appointment, patient education, glove counselling and counselling at departments of social or occupational medicine on severity of hand eczema, quality of life, use of corticosteroids, and jobsituation 3-12 months after intervention in patients with suspected occupational contact dermatitis of the hands.