Prevalence and incidence of hand dermatitis in hairdressing apprentices: results of the POSH study

Abstract

Objective: Occupational skin changes in hairdressers are very common. Morbidity, however, has not yet been quanti®ed precisely. Methods: A cohort of 2,352 hairdressing apprentices (of the 2,570 invited to participate, i.e., 91.5% response) was prospectively followed for the duration of their vocational training (3 years) by three examinations. Three waves (years) were recruited in 1992, 1993, and 1994 from 15 vocational training schools in northwestern Germany. Results: The point prevalence of (mostly slight) irritant skin changes of the hands increased from 35.4% in the initial examination to 47.5% in the intermediate examination and to 55.1% in the ®nal examination. Given a more conservative de®nition of a case of``hand dermatitis,'' these estimates were 12.9%, 23.5%, and 23.9%, respectively. Altogether, 34.3 and 15.2 cases of``skin changes (any degree)'' and``hand dermatitis,'' respectively, in 100 person-years were observed during the study period. The incidence rate, i.e., the number of newly diseased study participants in relation to the person-time at risk contributed, decreased in the course of the study. The proportion of dropouts until ®nal follow-up was 51.8%. Conclusion: The present results appear to lie in a range with those found in other, much smaller cohort studies. However, comparison of the results is hampered either by the lack of a clear de®nition or by a dierent de®nition of``person-time at risk'' or``a case of hand dermatitis.'' As compared with an external control group of oce apprentices, the incidence was several times higher in hairdressing apprentices, which points to the high risk for skin damage in this occupation.

Individual Susceptibility to Occupational Contact Dermatitis

“…In the healthcare workers the attributable risk was even higher and amounted to 37.4% 59) . ASD was also closely related to the development of skin problems during vocational training in hairdressing 66,67) , nursing 63) and food industry apprentices 68) , but not in trainee metal workers 56) . Loffler et al 69) showed that the risk of atopic health care employees (assessed by Diepgen score) to develop skin changes was especially high in the first 18 months of their training.…”

“…In hairdressers, atopic status showed to increase the risk of leaving the profession by up to 20% 66,73) .…”

Health Assessment of Self‐employed Hairdressers in France

“…Inflamed and damaged skin is at greater risk of sensitization. Atopic individuals are also more likely to leave the hairdressing profession than nonatopic ones, perhaps because the former have a greater susceptibility to irritants 13) . The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently reasserted that the substances to which hairdressers and barbers are exposed in the workplace are probably carcinogenic, although there is generally only limited evidence for their carcinogenicity 1) .…”

Skin Protection at Work in Croatian Hairdressers (Results of the Evahair Questionnaire Developed Within the Eu Project „Safehair“)

“…Frizeri su prepoznati kao zanimanje koje uključuje značajne zdravstvene rizike, ponajviše za kožu (1,2). Rizik od kožnih bolesti u frizera vezan je uz svakodnevnu izloženost brojnim čimbenicima s nadražujućim i senzibilizirajućim djelovanjem na kožu.…”

“…Brojni kemijski sastojci boja za kosu, izbjeljivača, kemikalija za trajno kovrčanje, ali i šampona i preparata za njegu kose, senzibilizirajuće djeluju na kožu izazivajući pojavu alergijskog kontaktnog dermatitisa. Kao najčešći profesionalni frizerski alergeni pri tom se spominju parafenilendiamin, amonijev persulfat i gliceril monotioglikolat (1)(2)(3). Jednom nastala profesionalna kožna bolest u frizera vrlo često ima nepovoljnu prognozu i dovodi do značajnoga gubitka kvalitete života i radne produktivnosti (4), a često i do profesionalne nesposobnosti za rad, tj.…”