Background: Studies on the causes and consequences of occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) among young workers are non-existent.Objectives: Determine causes and consequences of OCD among workers younger than 35 years of age.Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 6251 workers younger than 35 years at notification with recognized OCD (response rate 47%). Results:The most prevalent occupations were health care workers, kitchen workers, nursery teachers, and hairdressers and beauticians. Seventy-six percent still had eczema, and 77% of these had eczema half to all the time over the last 3 months, with 61% evaluating their eczema as moderate to very severe. Fifty-three percent had changed their occupation since notification, and 42.5% had lost their job because of OCD. Allergic OCD increased the odds ratio (OR) for facial or foot eczema, job loss, change in work tasks, difficulties finding work, decrease in income, and sick leave. Age at notification of 25 years of age or younger increased the risk of job loss and feeling restricted in choice of job. Workers in the food industry had a higher OR for job loss, whereas hairdressers and beauticians had a higher risk of job loss and a decrease in income. Conclusions:The severe, long-term consequences of OCD notification signify the need for further preventive strategies among young workers.

In Germany, a stepwise multidisciplinary approach has been established to prevent occupational skin diseases (OSDs), primarily occupational contact dermatitis. This review aims to perform a systematic evaluation of the short‐ and long‐term effects of the German secondary and tertiary individual prevention programmes (SIP and TIP, respectively) for OSDs. Primary outcomes were continuation of employment, severity of hand dermatitis, and quality of life (QoL). The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for studies reporting the effects of the SIP and TIP. A total of 19 studies encompassing 5527 patients with OSDs were included: 11 studies evaluated the SIP and 8 evaluated the TIP. Following the SIP, approximately 70% to 90% and 60% to 70% of patients remained in their occupation after 1 and 5 years, respectively. At 3 years after the TIP, 82.7% of patients remained in their occupation and exhibited a significant decrease in hand dermatitis severity, as well as an increase in QoL. Most of these studies were uncontrolled and the interventions, outcomes, and measurement instruments used were heterogeneous. The SIP and TIP lead to decreased disease severity, improved QoL, and enabled most patients to continue working in their chosen professions. Implementing a similar multidisciplinary approach across Europe may be beneficial.

Background: Recent population-based studies on the incidence rates (IRs) of occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) are sparse. Objectives: To determine the IRs of OCD and development thereof between 2007 and 2018 in known risk occupations. Methods: Data on all recognized cases of OCD were used to calculate IRs as the number of recognized OCD cases per 10 000 workers per year. Asymptotic chisquare test was used to compare the IRs between 2007-2012 and 2013-2018. Results:The median age at notification of OCD was below 30 years for several of the examined occupations. Hairdressers and beauticians, bakers, dentists and dental assistants, and manufacturing of windmills had the highest overall IRs of OCD. We found a statistically significant increase in the IRs of OCD for child/nursery care workers. Conclusions:The median age at notification of OCD was low for several of the occupations, signifying the need for further preventive strategies among young people.

Background Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) is the most commonly recognized occupational disease in Denmark. Objectives To examine the impact of recognized OCD on degree of employment, sick leave, unemployment, and job change. Methods Data on all recognized individuals with OCD notified in Denmark between 2010 and 2015 (n = 8940) were linked to information on social transfer payments in the years before and after notification. The number of weeks on unemployment benefits or sick leave and the degree of employment during the 2 years prior to notification was compared with the 2 years following notification. Results The degree of employment decreased on average 8.9 work‐hours/month, corresponding to an average annual loss of income per worker of approximately €1570. The average number of weeks that workers were receiving unemployment benefits and paid long‐term sick leave rose by 2.5 and 3.4 weeks, respectively, corresponding to an average additional annual cost per worker of approximately €420 and €770, respectively. Longer case‐processing time was significantly associated with lower degree of employment and higher levels of unemployment and sick leave. Conclusions OCD has a significant negative impact on employment and economics, thus highlighting the need for a national, strategic action plan for effective prevention of OCD.