title: Hospital employees and skin problems.
abstract: A total of 1481 hospital employees answered a questionnaire on atopy, hand eczema, and dry chapped hands. Out of 864 (58.7%) responders, 17% claimed to suffer from hand eczema. There was not significantly more hand eczema among women (17.6%) than men (15.7%). Atopic disposition was present in 17.5% of responders, of whom a significantly higher number (36.4%) claimed to have hand eczema. Dry chapped hands seemed to be a problem in 33.1%, mainly among nurses, assistant nurses and laboratory assistants. Technicians and X-ray assistants (38%) and kitchen workers (35.7%) claimed to suffer significantly more from hand eczema than others. Their working conditions were inspected. Following examination by a dermatologist, irritant contact eczema was diagnosed in 11 of 17, and occupational eczema in 3. None of the janitors or technical workers (all men) had hand eczema.
mesh_terms: D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D010328:Patch Tests; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires