The effectiveness of integrated care for patients with hand eczema: results of a randomized, controlled trial

Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of integrated, multidisciplinary care as compared with usual care for patients with moderate to severe, chronic hand eczema after 26 weeks of follow-up. Background. This study was designed as a randomized, controlled trial. Methods. Patients who visited one of the participating hospitals were randomized to integrated care or usual care. Integrated care was carried out by amultidisciplinary team, and integrated clinical and occupational care to optimize treatment, and the patient's quality of life and social functioning. Outcome variables were clinical assessment of hand eczema with the Hand Eczema Severity Index (HECSI) (primary outcome), quality of life, patient's global assessment of hand eczema, and sick leave. Results. Average improvement on theHECSI was 22.4 points in the intervention group and 11.7 points in the control group. The mean difference in improvement on the HECSI between both groups after 26 weeks was 10.7 points in favour of the integrated care group (standard error5.3,95% confidence interval 0.3-21.1, p = 0.044). No differences in improvement between the groups were found for any of the other outcomes. Conclusions. The integrated care programme significantly improved clinical outcome measures as compared with usual care, and was effective for treating patients with chronic hand eczema.