Table 3.

Incidence of hand dermatitis after exposure to nickel releasing coins at the beginning of the study in both groups

Variable	Nickel patch test
	Positive patients Group I (n = 91)			Negative patients Group II (n = 87)
	Males n = 29	Females n = 62	Total n = 91	Males n = 38	Females n = 49	Total n = 87
No dermatitis	18 (19.8%)	30 (32.9%)	48 (52.7%)	32 (36.8%)	43 (49.4%)	75 (86.2%)
Mild to moderate dermatitis	7 (7.7%)	26 (28.6%)	33 (36.3%)	4 (4.7%)	5 (5.7%)	9 (10.4%)
Severe dermatitis	4 (4.4%)	6 (6.6%)	10 (11%)	2 (2.3%)	1 (1.1%)	3 (3.4%)