Burden of Pain and Use of Analgesics in Patients With Chronic Hand Eczema-Findings From the Danish Skin Cohort

BACKGROUND: Skin pain is a common symptom in patients with chronic hand eczema (CHE); however, its association with increased analgesic use has not been thoroughly investigated.

OBJECTIVES: To examine analgesic use (paracetamol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], opioids and gabapentin/pregabalin) among patients with CHE compared to a control group.

METHODS: Data were obtained from the Danish Skin Cohort and the Danish national registries. Patients with dermatologist-verified CHE were systematically interviewed, including questions on skin and joint pain experienced within the past 7 days.

RESULTS: The study included 1032 patients with CHE and 11 166 controls. We observed an overall higher utilisation of analgesics among patients with CHE compared to the control group. The highest utilisation of analgesics was observed for paracetamol (35.3% vs. 25.7%) followed by NSAIDs (21.5% vs. 15.3%). When stratified by disease severity, patients with moderate-to-very-severe CHE consistently used more analgesics compared to those with mild CHE.

CONCLUSION: This study highlights the significant burden of pain in patients with CHE, as evidenced by their higher utilisation of analgesics compared to the general population in Denmark.