Fragrance contact allergic patients: strategies for use of cosmetic products and perceived impact on life situation

Abstract

Fragrance ingredients are a common cause of contact allergy. Very little is known about these patients' strategies to manage their disease and the effect on their daily lives. To investigate if patients with diagnosed fragrance contact allergy used scented products, how they identified tolerated products, and if fragrance allergy affected their daily living. One hundred and forty-seven patients diagnosed with fragrance contact allergy in a 20-month period were included and received a postal questionnaire concerning the subjects of the study. One hundred and seventeen (79.6%) replied. In total, 53/117 (45.3%) responded that they had found some scented products that they could tolerate. Thirty-seven (31.6%) had not tried to find any scented products and 26 (22%) had tried but could not find any. The methods most often used were trying different products and reading the ingredient label. Of the total respondents, 17.1% reported sick-leave due to fragrance allergy and 45.3% found that fragrance allergy significantly affected their daily living. Many patients with fragrance contact allergy succeeded in finding some scented products, which they could tolerate, e.g. by use of ingredient labelling, but a significant proportion had continued skin problems. Almost half of the patients perceived that fragrance allergy significantly affected their daily lives.