title: Work environment and hand dermatitis among nurses in a Chinese teaching hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the working environment on hand dermatitis (HD) prevalence among nurses in a Chinese teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We utilised a previously validated, self-reporting survey which was translated into Chinese.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of HD among nurses was 18.3%, although this rate varied between departments, ranging from 9.4% in gynaecology to 26.7% in intensive care (P for Trend=0.3167). Logistic regression indicated that wet work was the most important HD risk factor, with a 9-fold increase (OR 9.0, 95% CI 1.2-74.9, P=0.0342). Allergic disease was also related to HD, with a 4.6-fold increase noted (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.4-15.0, P=0.0096).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the prevalence of HD among Chinese hospital nurses appears to be less than that of their foreign counterparts. Nevertheless, the burden of this disease does seem to vary with respect to depertment of employment within the hospital.
authors: Department of Hazard Assessment, National Institute of Industrial Health, 6-21-1 Nagao, Tama-Ku, 214-8585, Kawasak, Japan, smith@niih.go.jp.
authors: Derek R
authors: DR
authors: Smith
authors: Ning
authors: N
authors: Wei
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Kang
authors: Rui-Sheng
authors: RS
authors: Wang