Professor at Department of Physical Therapy for Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Associate Professor at Rehabilitation Sciences Department, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Dec;26(12):1144-1150. doi: 10.1089/acm.2020.0356. Epub 2020 Nov 16.
Chronic hand eczema (CHE) is a common inflammatory skin disease with a major psychological and socioeconomic impacts on patients' quality of life (QoL) and work ability. To the best of knowledge, this study is the first randomized-controlled trial conducted to evaluate the effect of paraffin bath therapy in management of hand eczema and its related symptoms. This study was a parallel-group, active-control, randomized clinical trial with measures at pretreatment, 6th week, and 12th week of treatment. The study took place at the Outpatient Clinic of Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, and some licensed rehabilitation centers in Cairo for a 1-year period. Sixty patients with moderate to severe CHE were randomly assigned into two groups of equal number; the paraffin bath therapy group and the control group. The paraffin group received paraffin bath therapy for 5 days a week for 12 weeks, in addition to the routine skin care program, while the control group only received the routine skin care program. SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) was used to assess the severity of atopic dermatitis and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) to assess the effect of CHE on quality of patients' life. All measurements were obtained before, at the 6th week, and at the 12th week of treatment. Marked improvement in the severity of the disease symptoms was observed, reflected by a highly decrease in objective SCORAD score in the paraffin group over time more than the control group. The percentage of reduction was 28.6% in paraffin group versus 0.41% in control group. Subjective item score (itching and sleepiness) was reduced in the paraffin group more than the control group with a percentage of improvement (47% and 5.5%), respectively. Regarding QoL measure, there were highly positive changes in DLQI in paraffin group more than the control group. The percentage of improvement was 60% in paraffin group and 3.8% in control group. Paraffin bath therapy applied for a 12-week duration seems to be effective, both in reducing severity of eczema symptoms and improving QoL in patients with CHE.
慢性手部湿疹（CHE）是一种常见的炎症性皮肤病，对患者的生活质量（QoL）和工作能力有重大的心理和社会经济影响。据我们所知，这是第一项评估石蜡浴疗法在手部湿疹及其相关症状管理中的效果的随机对照试验。
该研究是一项平行组、阳性对照、随机临床试验，在治疗前、第 6 周和第 12 周进行测量。研究在开罗大学理疗学院门诊和开罗的一些许可康复中心进行，为期 1 年。60 名中重度 CHE 患者被随机分为两组，每组人数相等；石蜡浴治疗组和对照组。石蜡组每周接受 5 天的石蜡浴治疗，共 12 周，此外还接受常规皮肤护理方案，而对照组仅接受常规皮肤护理方案。SCORing Atopic Dermatitis（SCORAD）用于评估特应性皮炎的严重程度，皮肤病生活质量指数（DLQI）用于评估 CHE 对患者生活质量的影响。所有测量均在治疗前、第 6 周和第 12 周进行。
观察到疾病症状严重程度明显改善，反映出石蜡组的客观 SCORAD 评分随时间推移而大幅下降，超过对照组。石蜡组的下降幅度为 28.6%，而对照组为 0.41%。与对照组相比，石蜡组的主观项目评分（瘙痒和嗜睡）有所降低，改善率分别为 47%和 5.5%。关于 QoL 测量，石蜡组的 DLQI 有高度积极的变化，改善率为 60%，对照组为 3.8%。
为期 12 周的石蜡浴治疗似乎有效，既能减轻湿疹症状的严重程度，又能提高 CHE 患者的生活质量。
