Alcohol and smoking: risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis?

Risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis (IED) were analyzed in a study of males aged 19-50 years. The subjects were 43 IED patients and 226 controls with other skin diseases from the dermatological outpatient clinics of three University Hospitals in Finland. The patients' lifestyles were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire pertaining to two specified periods: the period 12 months before the onset of the skin disease and the period 12 months before the examination date. Recalled mean alcohol intake before the onset of the skin disease was 39.2 g/day for the IED patients and 17.1 g/day for the controls (p = 0.04). The average number of cigarettes smoked daily was 17.7 for the IED patients and 10.4 for the control patients (p = 0.001). The IED patients significantly reduced their alcohol intake after the onset of the skin disease. In logistic regression analysis, IED associated with alcohol intake and smoking but not with coffee consumption, life events, age, marital status, or social group. The odds ratio for IED at an alcohol intake of 50 g/day as against no intake, was 1.7 (95% confidence interval 1.03-2.7), and the odds ratio at a tobacco consumption rate of 20 cigarettes/day as against no use of tobacco, was 2.1 (1.2-3.7). We conclude that alcohol intake and smoking appear to be risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis among males.