A retrospective cohort study on the incidence of hand dermatitis in nurses

Abstract

Data on the incidence and induction time of hand dermatitis are not available from the literature. To assist the planning of a prospective study on risk factors for hand dermatitis, a retrospective cohort study was performed in nurses and office employees to obtain a rough estimate of the incidence and induction time of hand dermatitis in these occupational groups. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire with validated questions on symptoms of hand dermatitis. The cohort consisted of 371 nurses and 111 office employees who were newly employed by a University Hospital between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 1988. Follow-up ended on 30 September 1989. Subjects who reported that symptoms had already occurred before entering the study were excluded for analysis on the incidence, leaving 298 nurses and 101 office employees for further analysis. Due to limitations of the retrospective study design, only half of the cases were able to report the exact month of occurrence of symptoms. Therefore only a rough estimate could be made of the incidence and induction period, assuming that the distribution of person-months of observation in cases with a known incidence date was equal to that of cases with unknown incidence dates. Thus, it was estimated that the overall incidence was 6.5 cases/1000 person-months in nurses and 1 case/1000 person-months in office employees. In nurses, 72% of the cases occurred within 3 months of follow-up.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Susceptibility to and incidence of hand dermatitis in a cohort of apprentice hairdressers and nurses.

“…The cumulative incidence figure s for nurses, as observed in a Swedish (2) and a Dutch (26) study , were 41 % (20 months) and 13% (18 months), respectively. The differences are likely to be explained by variations in exposure history and disease status before employment (26).…”

Work environment and hand dermatitis among nurses in a Chinese teaching hospital

“…For this study, we utilised a previously validated self-reporting survey (7,9,12) which was translated into Chinese. The document was then evaluated for clarity and understanding by a panel of Chinese health care experts, before being backtranslated into English and rechecked against the original.…”

“…The final section focussed on specific HD symptoms that are known to be indicative of this disease (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Briefly, they included: red hands or redness between the fingers, scaling of the hands or fingers with fissures, vesicles on the hands or between the fingers, swollen red hands or fingers, and itching of the hands or fingers with or without fissures (3,7,9,12).…”

“…Among them, the effects of the working environment are known to be particularly important (2,3). Occupationally, HD represents one of the most significant diseases for hospital staff (4,5), and is known to be highly prevalent among nurses (6,7). Most importantly, it is repeated exposure to irritants and allergens within the work environment that may eventually lead to HD.…”

Prevention of Irritant Contact Dermatitis among Health Care Workers by Using Evidence-Based Hand Hygiene Practices: A Review

“…Hand dermatitis is a classic occupational health problem for healthcare workers (HCW) in many countries [1][2][3] . A far higher point prevalence of hand dermatitis (for example 17-30%), can be found among them when compared to the general population 4) .…”