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Is skin exposure to water mainly occupational or nonoccupational? A population‐based study
Author(s) -
Meding B.,
Lindahl G.,
Alderling M.,
Wrangsjö K.,
Anveden Berglind I.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/bjd.12275
Subject(s) - population , unit (ring theory) , medicine , family medicine , occupational medicine , environmental medicine , public health , environmental health , occupational exposure , psychology , pathology , mathematics education
Summary Background Skin exposure to water is considered to contribute to hand eczema. Knowledge about total water exposure during a day is scanty. Objectives To investigate self‐reported water exposure at work as well as throughout the day. Methods Skin exposure to water was assessed from two questionnaire‐based health surveys: the nationwide E nvironmental H ealth S urvey 2007 ( EHS ), which enquired about water exposure throughout the day, and the S tockholm P ublic H ealth S urvey 2006 ( PHS ), which probed water exposure at work. Answers from 19 667 individuals ( EHS ) and 18 318 individuals ( PHS ) were available for analysis. Results In total, 22% of respondents (women 30%, men 12%) reported skin exposure to water more than 20 times during an entire day ( EHS ) compared with 6% (women 8%, men 4%) at work ( PHS ). In a univariate analysis, using a merged file comprising data from the EHS and the PHS , water exposure more than 20 times a day was more common in the EHS (prevalence proportion ratio 3·570, 95% confidence interval 3·353–3·802). In multivariate models the variables studied did not fulfil the criteria for being confounders. Water exposure at work declined with increasing age in both women and men ( P < 0·0001) as did water exposure during the entire day in men ( P < 0·0001). However, women were equally exposed during the entire day across age groups ( P = 0·205). Conclusions High water exposure over the entire day was found to be considerably more frequent than exposure at work. Thus, a significant proportion of water exposure seems to occur outside work. This should be considered in prevention of hand eczema and when counselling patients with hand eczema in clinical practice.