Occupation-related contact dermatitis in North American health care workers referred for patch testing: cross-sectional data, 1998 to 2004.
BACKGROUND
Contact dermatoses are common in health care workers (HCWs).


OBJECTIVE
To (1) estimate the prevalence of occupation-relevant allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) among health care workers patch-tested from 1998 to 2004 by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group (NACDG), (2) characterize responsible allergens among health care workers overall as well as in specific health care occupational subgroups, and (3) compare these results to those of nonhealth care workers.


METHODS
Between 1998 and 2004, 15,896 patients were patch-tested by the NACDG. Occupation-related allergic patch-test results were analyzed among HCWs, subgroups of HCWs, and non-HCWs.


RESULTS
1,255 patients (7.9%) were HCWs. Female gender (HCWs, 86.2%; non-HCWs, 63.6%) and hand involvement (HCWs, 54.7%; non-HCWs, 27.8%) were more common in HCWs (p < .05); 18.2% of HCWs and 6.6% of non-HCWs had occupation-related allergens of current clinical relevance. Thiuram mix (HCWs, 8.87% non-HCWs, 0.90%) and carba mix (HCWs, 5.43%; non-HCWs, 0.87%) were the most common occupation-related currently relevant antigens in HCWs and were more common in HCWs than in non-HCWs (p < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Among HCWs patch-tested by the NACDG between 1998 and 2004, the most common allergens were thiuram mix and carba mix, followed by glutaraldehyde, cocamide diethanolamine, and chloroxylenol. Gloves, sterilizing solutions, and soaps were common sources of responsible allergens.
Erin M
EM
Warshaw
Sarah E
SE
Schram
Howard I
HI
Maibach
Donald V
DV
Belsito
James G
JG
Marks
Joseph F
JF
Fowler
Robert L
RL
Rietschel
James S
JS
Taylor
C G Toby
CG
Mathias
Vincent A
VA
DeLeo
Kathryn A
KA
Zug
Denis
D
Sasseville
Frances J
FJ
Storrs
Melanie D
MD
Pratt
D000485:Allergens; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010328:Patch Tests; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000485:Allergens