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Patients with hand dermatitis failed fingerprint verification

Patients with severe hand dermatitis experienced a significant problem with fingerprint verification failure, according to study results.

Researchers in Malaysia conducted a case-control study of 100 patients (mean age, 44.6 years; female to male ratio, 3.8:1.0) with clinical hand dermatitis involving the palmar distal phalanx of either thumb. Patients were compared with 100 control participants matched for age, gender and ethnicity. Patients whose thumbprints were altered because of palmar hyperhidrosis or other causes were excluded. Fingerprint verification and hand eczema severity index score were used as main outcome measures.

Forty-eight percent of patients were diagnosed as having allergic contact dermatitis. Others had irritant contact dermatitis (14%), atopic dermatitis (14%), unspecified dermatitis (13%) and endogenous dermatitis (11%), with median disease duration of 52 months.

Twenty-seven percent of dermatitis patients failed fingerprint verification compared with 2% of controls. Patients had a greater incidence of fingerprint dystrophy compared with controls (42% vs. 2%; OR=35.48; 95% CI, 12.68-99.29). Abnormal white lines were present in 79.5% of patients with hand dermatitis vs. 91.5% among controls, while the quantity was significantly higher in patients (median, 12 lines per fingerprint vs. 8 lines per fingerprint; P=.001). Patients’ fingerprints with dystrophy that failed fingerprint verification had an odds ratio of 4.01 (95% CI, 2.20-7.32). Fingerprint verification failure was associated with broad lines and long lines (OR=8.04; 95% CI, 3.56-18.17), while thin lines were protective of verification failure (OR=0.45; 95% CI, 0.23-0.89).

“Fingerprint verification failure can be a marker of disease severity,” the researchers concluded. “Therefore, problems with fingerprint verification should be actively sought for and anticipated in patients with hand dermatitis.”