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Incidence and prevalence rates for occupational contact dermatitis in an Australian suburban area
Author(s) -
Keegel Tessa,
Cahill Jennifer,
Noonan Amanda,
Dharmage Shyamali,
Saunders Helen,
Frowen Kathryn,
Nixon Rosemary
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/j.0105-1873.2005.00571.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , referral , confidence interval , dermatology , outpatient clinic , gold standard (test) , contact dermatitis , family medicine , allergy , physics , optics , immunology
Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) regularly causes high levels of worker morbidity; however, this is often not reflected in available statistics. This study aimed to collect and verify OCD reports/referrals and generate disease estimates for a defined geographical area in Melbourne, Australia. Two methods of data collection were used. In the first method, 30 general practitioners (GPs), 2 dermatologists and 1 dermatology outpatient clinic within a defined area reported each worker with suspected OCD seen as part of routine practice. With the second method, workers living in the area who were referred to a tertiary referral OCD clinic were included in the study. An occupational dermatologist used a gold standard process that included diagnostic patch testing to verify suspected cases. The incidence rate for confirmed cases was 20.5 per 100 000 workers [95% confidence interval (CI): 13–32.1]. The 1‐year‐period prevalence rate was 34.5 per 100 000 (95% CI: 24.4–48.7). The positive predictive value (PPV) was highest for the occupational dermatology clinic referrals [63% (95% CI: 49–76%)] compared with reports from the dermatologists/dermatology outpatient clinic [55% (95% CI: 36–74%)] and from GPs [43% (95% CI: 29–59%)]. This study utilizes reports from GPs and dermatologists to provide OCD disease estimates and validation data for an OCD disease register.