Prevalence of skin disease among nursing home staff in southern Taiwan.
To establish the prevalence of skin disease among nursing home workers in southern Taiwan, dermatological examination was performed on 75 nursing home staff from 11 institutions in Tainan county. Fungal infections were the most common skin diseases identified, affecting 21.4% of all employees. Other conditions included xerosis (13.3%), scabies (10.7%) and dermatitis (8.0%). Fungus was found mainly on the feet and hands (68.7% and 31.3% of all fungal cases respectively). Most xerosis sites were identified on the lower leg (90.0% of all xerosis cases), while all workers with scabies had the disease on their forearm. Dermatitis was diagnosed predominately on the forearm (50.0% of all dermatitis cases). The prevalence of fungus and scabies was higher than other studies, while dermatitis occurred less frequently than previous reports. Although not statistically significant, we believe that wet work and occupational contact with nursing home patients may have been important risk factors for these conditions.
Smith
Derek Richard
DR
Faculty of Sciences, The University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia.
Guo
Yue-Liang Leon
YL
Lee
Yung-Ling
YL
Hsieh
Fu-Sen
FS
Chang
Suh-Jen
SJ
Sheu
Hamm-Ming
HM
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009740:Nursing Staff; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology