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Is the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' useful for assessing childhood atopic eczema in adult population surveys?

Stenberg, B ; Lindberg, M ; Meding, B and Svensson, Åke LU (2006) In Contact Dermatitis 54(6). p.334-337
Abstract
Atopic eczema (AE) is a major risk factor for hand eczema. In Scandinavian population-based studies, the occurrence of AE in childhood has often been assessed by the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' In the present study, this question was validated. A questionnaire was sent to 600 cases with AE and 600 controls without eczema or allergic disease, identified in school medical records from the 1960s. The response rate was 70.5%, and the mean age of the respondents was 36.7 years. The specificity of the question was 70.7% and the sensitivity 89.9%. The sensitivity was higher and the specificity lower in a subgroup with current hand eczema compared with a group without hand eczema. The results showed that the question overestimated... (More)
Atopic eczema (AE) is a major risk factor for hand eczema. In Scandinavian population-based studies, the occurrence of AE in childhood has often been assessed by the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' In the present study, this question was validated. A questionnaire was sent to 600 cases with AE and 600 controls without eczema or allergic disease, identified in school medical records from the 1960s. The response rate was 70.5%, and the mean age of the respondents was 36.7 years. The specificity of the question was 70.7% and the sensitivity 89.9%. The sensitivity was higher and the specificity lower in a subgroup with current hand eczema compared with a group without hand eczema. The results showed that the question overestimated the prevalence of AE in childhood by a factor of 1.6. When used for risk assessment, the question provided a better estimate of the risk of current hand eczema as compared with the lifetime risk of hand eczema. In conclusion, the validated question overestimated prevalence of childhood AE and may overestimate AE as a risk factor for hand eczema in adult population surveys. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
specificity, sensitivity, questionnaire, atopic eczema, childhood eczema, validation
in
Contact Dermatitis
volume
54
issue
6
pages
334 - 337
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000238184900005
  • pmid:16787455
  • scopus:33745099579
  • pmid:16787455
ISSN
0105-1873
DOI
10.1111/j.0105-1873.2006.00851.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
aa97576e-698d-4e27-a6b5-c89cc22bfcd6 (old id 686605)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:02:39
date last changed
2022-08-06 05:09:27
@article{aa97576e-698d-4e27-a6b5-c89cc22bfcd6,
  abstract     = {{Atopic eczema (AE) is a major risk factor for hand eczema. In Scandinavian population-based studies, the occurrence of AE in childhood has often been assessed by the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' In the present study, this question was validated. A questionnaire was sent to 600 cases with AE and 600 controls without eczema or allergic disease, identified in school medical records from the 1960s. The response rate was 70.5%, and the mean age of the respondents was 36.7 years. The specificity of the question was 70.7% and the sensitivity 89.9%. The sensitivity was higher and the specificity lower in a subgroup with current hand eczema compared with a group without hand eczema. The results showed that the question overestimated the prevalence of AE in childhood by a factor of 1.6. When used for risk assessment, the question provided a better estimate of the risk of current hand eczema as compared with the lifetime risk of hand eczema. In conclusion, the validated question overestimated prevalence of childhood AE and may overestimate AE as a risk factor for hand eczema in adult population surveys.}},
  author       = {{Stenberg, B and Lindberg, M and Meding, B and Svensson, Åke}},
  issn         = {{0105-1873}},
  keywords     = {{specificity; sensitivity; questionnaire; atopic eczema; childhood eczema; validation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{334--337}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Contact Dermatitis}},
  title        = {{Is the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' useful for assessing childhood atopic eczema in adult population surveys?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0105-1873.2006.00851.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.0105-1873.2006.00851.x}},
  volume       = {{54}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}