Hand eczema among University Hospital nursing staff: identification of high-risk sector and impact on quality of life.
BACKGROUND
Hand eczema is a commonly encountered occupational disease and has a negative impact on life quality.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to identify the specific conditions that may pose a higher risk for occurrence of hand eczema and evaluate the impact of hand eczema on life quality.


METHODS
Nursing staff from a university hospital were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study. Validated questionnaires for hand eczema and life quality were used to evaluate the point prevalence and determine the impacts of hand eczema, respectively.


RESULTS
The overall response rate was 93%, equivalent to 1132 completed questionnaires. Two hundred and forty-eight (22%) reported occurrence of hand eczema. Occurrence of hand eczema was significantly associated with nursing for >10 years and working in a special care unit, with prevalences of 27% and 26%, respectively. In addition, hand eczema was associated with suboptimal life quality; pruritus or burning sensations were associated with a lower quality of life among those with hand eczema.


CONCLUSIONS
Hand eczema is a work-related problem for nursing staff; proper preventive programmes should be implemented for those nursing staff working in high-risk areas to avoid further lowering of their quality of life.
Lan
Cheng-Che E
CC
Department of Dermatology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Feng
Wen-Wei
WW
Lu
Yi-Wei
YW
Wu
Ching-Shuang
CS
Hung
Shih-Ting
ST
Hsu
Hui-Yu
HY
Yu
Hsin-Su
HS
Ko
Ying-Chin
YC
Lee
Chien-Hung
CH
Yang
Yi-Hsin
YH
Chen
Gwo-Shing
GS
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology