Pattern of contact dermatitis in a tertiary level hospital in Bangladesh

Objective: To evaluate the pattern of contact dermatitis (CD) among patients in a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bngladesh. Patients and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 120 patients of contact dermatitis, diagnosed clinically were evaluated by detail history and clinical examination. The clinical patterns were correlated with the likely sources of allergens. Results: Mean age was 32.8 }14.0 years and majority of the patients were housewives 36 (30.0%) and students 33 (27.5%). 60.0% of the patients came from low-middle class. Itching 117 (97.5%) and disfigurement 89 (74.2%) were chief complaints of the patients. 63 (52.5%) patients showed erythematous rash, 42 (35%) vesicular eruption, 34 (28.3%) pustular eruption and 16 (13.3%) post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Both hands 69 (57.5%), right hand 41 (34.2%), both feet 50 (41.7), neck and ear 42 (35%) and face 30 (25.0%) were the commonly involved sites. Allergic contact dermatitis (52.5%) was more common than photocontact CD (26.7%) and irritant CD (20.8%). Regarding the source of contact dermatitis, detergents 88 (73.3%), cooking materials 67 (55.8%), shoes or sandals 61 (50.8%), cosmetics 42 (35%), gold/jewellery 38 (31.7%), insects 29 (24.2%) were the main etiological factors of contact dermatitis. Conclusion: The study highlighted that contact dermatitis depends on patients’ occupational exposure of different substances.