Treatment with alitretinoin in patients taking part in a tertiary individual prevention program for work-related skin diseases

Background: Patients taking part in a tertiary individual prevention program (TIP) for work-related skin diseases frequently have chronic hand eczema (HE) for which alitretinoin is a treatment option. Objective: To investigate treatment with alitretinoin before and during the TIP and related factors. Methods: Data of 1614 patients taking part in the TIP between January 2015 and December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Three hundred forty-eight patients (21.6%) reported treatment with alitretinoin prior to the TIP showing an increase over time, particularly in men. In 45 patients (2.8%), alitretinoin treatment was initiated during the TIP. Treatment with alitretinoin was significantly less common among female than male patients, both prior to (P < .001) and during the TIP (P = .015). Female patients who had received alitretinoin in the past were significantly older than the other female patients (P < .001). Among patients treated with alitretinoin prior to the TIP, women had a significantly higher disease severity at admission than men (P = .007). Conclusions: About twenty percent of patients reported treatment with alitretinoin prior to the TIP. The data indicate that treatment of female TIP patients with alitretinoin is less frequent than among male patients and depends on age and disease severity.