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Notes: Background  Severity assessment of occupational hand eczema (OHE) is important not only in clinical settings but also in research. Questionnaires with self-rated assessment of severity may be an attractive tool for assessing severity because of their cost efficiency in comparison with expensive clinical examinations.Objectives  To evaluate the relation between self-rated severity and severity assessment based on standardized medical certificates issued by dermatologists in a population of patients with OHE.Methods  Between October 2001 and November 2002 (58 weeks) we identified all new cases of recognized OHE from the Danish National Board of Industrial Injuries (DNBII) registry. Each patient was examined by a dermatologist, who issued a standardized medical certificate. The severity assessment in the DNBII registry was based on this medical certificate, which comprised information on morphology and extent of eczema, and frequency of eruptions. All participants received a self-administered questionnaire and were asked to classify severity of their OHE on a visual analogue scale from 0 to 10. The relation between DNBII-assessed and self-rated severity was illustrated by a receiver operating characteristic analysis.Results  Of 758 patients included in the study, 621 returned the questionnaire and 602 (79%) provided information on self-rated severity. The proportion of severe cases was significantly higher among patients' assessments compared with the rating by the DNBII. Almost 18% were categorized as severe cases by the DNBII while 40% of patients had assessed themselves as having severe eczema. The optimal cut-off point had a sensitivity and specificity of self-rated severity according to the DNBII assessment of 65% and 66%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 29% and the negative predictive value was 90%.Conclusions  The low positive predictive value suggests major differences in the criteria for self-rated severity vs. DNBII-rated severity. We recommend researchers to include ratings from both patients and physicians in future investigations of severity. The methods may address different aspects of OHE.

Notes: It has been hypothesized that increased crop density and spatial uniformity can increase weed suppression and thereby play a role in weed management. Field experiments were performed over 2 years to investigate the effects of the density and spatial arrangement of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) on weed biomass and wheat yield in weed-infested fields. We used three crop spatial patterns (normal rows, random and uniform) and three densities (204, 449 and 721 seeds m−2), plus a fourth density (1000 seeds m−2) in the random pattern. Increased crop density reduced weed biomass in all three patterns. Weed biomass was lower and crop biomass higher in wheat sown in the random and uniform patterns than in normal rows in both years. At 449 seeds m−2, weed biomass was 38% lower in the uniform and 27% lower in the random pattern than in rows. There was evidence of decreasing grain yield due to intraspecific competition only at 1000 seeds m−2. The results not only confirm that increasing density and increasing crop spatial uniformity increase the suppression of weeds, but also suggest that a very high degree of spatial uniformity may not be necessary to achieve a major increase in weed suppression by cereal crops. Rows represent a very high degree of spatial aggregation. Decreasing this aggregation increased weed suppression almost as much as sowing the crop in a highly uniform spatial pattern. While the random pattern produced as much crop biomass and suppressed weeds almost as well as the uniform pattern, the uniform pattern gave the highest yield.

Notes: Background Prenatal maternal smoking has been associated with adverse respiratory effects in childhood such as lung deficits and wheezing, but results concerning asthma, hayfever, and atopic eczema are inconsistent.Objective In the present study, we investigate the effects of maternal smoking in pregnancy on asthma, hayfever, atopic eczema, and wheezing in the offspring up to the age of 14–18.Methods The study was based on a cohort of mothers enrolled during midwife visits around the 36th week of gestation in Odense and Aalborg, Denmark, 1984–1987. Singleton, live born children (n=11 144) were followed-up in 2002 to obtain a childhood history of atopic diseases, by means of questionnaires to the parents. Multivariate logistic regression analyses for medical diagnoses of asthma, hayfever, atopic eczema, and symptoms of wheezing before the age of 3, were carried out on 7844 children.Results After adjustment for confounders, late prenatal smoke exposure was associated with wheezing, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.2, and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.1–1.5. Furthermore, slightly reduced estimates for hayfever (OR 0.8, CI 0.7–1.0) and atopic eczema (OR 0.8, CI 0.7–0.9) were obtained for children exposed in late pregnancy compared with non-exposed.Conclusion Late gestational smoke exposure was associated with wheezing but not with asthma, while null or even protective estimates were indicated for hayfever and atopic eczema. However, lack of control options for hereditary factors may have affected the results.

Notes: Background  Epidemiological studies indicate that occupational hand eczema (OHE) often is associated with persistent dermatitis and prolonged sick leave, which may lead to unemployment. Previous studies suggest that OHE caused by allergic contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis (AD) carries the worst prognosis.Objectives  To evaluate and compare the severity and consequences of recognized OHE in different diagnostic and subdiagnostic groups.Methods  Between October 2001 and November 2002, all new cases of recognized OHE were identified from the Danish National Board of Industrial Injuries Registry (758 cases). Severity was graded from 0 to 2 depending on the intensity of skin response and the frequency of relapse. To supplement the information from the Registry, we surveyed the study population using a postal questionnaire which included questions about disease duration, sick leave, current occupation and loss of job.Results  The overall response rate to the questionnaire was 82%. We observed substantially greater severity among those with occupational irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) and AD than for any other diagnoses. Age above 50 years was also associated with increased severity of OHE. Prolonged sick leave due to OHE was reported by 19·9% and was associated with AD and severe OHE. We found a higher proportion of prolonged sick leave among those in food-related occupations (27·2%) compared with those in wet occupations (20·1%) and other occupations (16·5%). Twenty-three per cent reported that they had lost their job at least once during the past 12 months due to OHE. The only strong association with loss of job was food-related occupations.Conclusions  Occupational ICD and AD appear to be strongly associated with severity of OHE. AD and severity of OHE were independently associated with prolonged sick leave. Having a food-related occupation appears to be associated with increased risk of loss of job.