Pilot analysis of presentations at meetings of the American Contact Dermatitis Society and the European Society of Contact Dermatitis.

The largest meetings on contact dermatitis are those of the American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) and the European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD).To document the topics presented at these meetings and their presenters' countries of origin.Review of abstracts from the 2006 ESCD meeting and the 2005 and 2006 ACDS meetings.Twenty percent of ACDS presentations were on patch testing, versus 5% at the ESCD meeting (p < .001); 15% of ACDS presentations were on local reactions, versus 5% at the ESCD meeting (p < .01); 10% of ESCD presentations were on cosmetics/fragrance, versus 1% at the ACDS meetings (p = .014); and 31% of ESCD presentations were on metals and occupational topics, versus 18% at the ACDS meetings (p < .05). At the ACDS meetings, 55% of presenters were American, versus 2% at the ESCD meeting. Higher percentages of ESCD presenters were from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (p < .001), the United Kingdom (p < .01), France and Belgium (p < .05), Italy (p < .05), and Scandinavia (p < .001). More papers from Canada (p < .001) and the rest of the world were presented at the ACDS meetings (p < .001).Significant differences exist between these meetings. There may be the potential for increased joint meetings of these societies.