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Hand dermatitis in a prospectively‐followed cohort of hairdressing apprentices:nal results of the POSH study
Author(s) -
Uter Wolfgang,
Pfahlberg Annette,
Gefeller Olaf,
Schwanitz Hans Joachim
Publication year - 1999
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.1600-0536.1999.tb06162.x
Subject(s) - medicine , atopy , population , observational study , risk factor , incidence (geometry) , apprenticeship , cohort , hand eczema , prospective cohort study , cohort study , irritant contact dermatitis , environmental health , pediatrics , surgery , contact dermatitis , asthma , allergy , immunology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , optics
The incidence of hand dermatitis is high in the hairdressing trade; the individual disease burden is substantial, as are the costs of treatment, workers compensation and retraining programs. To evaluate the risk of developing occupational irritant hand dermatitis associated with several potential risk factors, namely constitution (atopy) and occupational exposure, an observational prospective population‐based cohort study set in vocational training schools in northwest Germany, recruiting 2352 hairdressing apprentices, was performed. Unprotected wet work of more than 2 h per day is the major signicant risk factor; low ambient absolute humidity is equally associated with a signicantly increased risk. Compared to the youngest age group, risk diminishes with increasing age. Constitutional risk factors are difcult to evaluate because of selective dropout of atopic participants. For primary prevention, a population approach, improving working conditions and skin protection for all exposed, appears to be the most beneficial.