Occupational skin diseases in cleaning and kitchen employees: course and quality of life after measures of secondary individual prevention.
BACKGROUND
Cleaning and kitchen employees have an increased risk of suffering from occupational dermatoses. Prevention including improving individual skin care and skin protection behavior, health education, optimizing diagnostics and therapy as well as avoidance of occupational skin disease (BK 5101) is important.


METHODS
Participants in the courses were patients suspected of having an occupational skin disease. Besides socio-demographic and disease-related data, health-related quality of life (QL) was measured using the SF-36 and Skindex-29. One year later all participants were interviewed by telephone about the course of their skin disease.


RESULTS
Out of 212 participants, 84.0 % were female. The mean age was 41.6 (SD = 10.8) years.168 patients (79.2 %) suffered from hand dermatitis,with irritant contact dermatitis being the predominant diagnosis (46.2 %,n = 98). One year later 65.4 % (n = 85) of the patients interviewed still suffered from hand dermatitis.9.2 % (n = 12) had meanwhile quit their job due to the skin disease. QL was impaired in all age groups being lower with increasing age of the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The follow-up confirmed the positive impact of the skin protection courses on patients' skin disease and well-being. Occupational skin diseases impair health-related quality of life in these professions but disease severity does not seem to play a key role.
Department of Clinical Social Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Stefanie
S
Soder
Thomas L
TL
Diepgen
Magdalena
M
Radulescu
Christian J
CJ
Apfelbacher
Thomas
T
Bruckner
Elke
E
Weisshaar
D000328:Adult; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012147:Restaurants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D016896:Treatment Outcome