Risk assessment for nickel contact allergy

Nickel is one of the most common allergens causing allergic contact dermatitis worldwide. The aim of the study was to evaluate the contributing factors to nickel contact allergy (NiCA) in Asians who have a unique culture and lifestyle. We randomly selected 324 previously patch-tested patients, 162 nickel patch test (PT)-positive patients and 162 nickel PT-negative patients. The patients were telephone interviewed for their lifestyle information. Most of the nickel PT-positive patients (93.2%) were female with a mean age of 38.9 ± 13.3 years compared with the other group of nickel PT-negative patients who had a smaller proportion of females (76.5%) with an older mean age of 44.1 ± 14.9 years (P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis was able to establish that the significant risk factors for NiCA were female sex (odds ratio [OR], 6.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.15-18.94), young age (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.00), occupation with long periods of exposure to metal (OR, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.18-8.02), seafood (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.17-3.27) and canned food consumption (OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.17-8.33) (P < 0.05). The adjusted factors found to associate with NiCA were female sex, young age, occupation with long periods of exposure to metal, seafood and canned food consumption.