W Uter1, A Pfahlberg, O Gefeller, H J Schwanitz. 1. University of Osnabrück, Department of Dermatology, Environmental Medicine and Health Theory, Germany. wuter@rz.uni-osnabrueck.de
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The risk of irritant skin damage associated with hairdressing was estimated with the individual occupational exposure and other relevant factors having been taken into consideration. METHODS: A cohort of 2352 hairdressing and 111 office apprentices was prospectively followed for the duration of their vocational training (3 years), 3 examinations having been made and 3 years of recruitment having been used [1992 (hairdressers only), 1993, 1994] in 15 vocational training schools in northwest Germany. The information of the final follow-up examination was used for the analysis. RESULTS: A multifactorial analysis taking several (constitutional) risk factors, which were unevenly distributed between the 2 groups, into account revealed a significantly increased risk for hairdressers when compared with office workers (odds ratio approximately 4.0) with a marked decline in the most recently recruited (1994) apprentice group. Other significant factors increasing the dermatitis risk were (i) low ambient absolute humidity, (ii) young age, and (iii) a certain higher range of "atopy score". If the individual profile of occupational exposure among hairdressers was also considered, unprotected wet work of more than 2 hours per day was found to be a significant risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: Good skin protection, as operationalized in the present study, can diminish, but not eliminate, the risk of occupational irritant hand dermatitis among hairdressers.
OBJECTIVES: The risk of irritant skin damage associated with hairdressing was estimated with the individual occupational exposure and other relevant factors having been taken into consideration. METHODS: A cohort of 2352 hairdressing and 111 office apprentices was prospectively followed for the duration of their vocational training (3 years), 3 examinations having been made and 3 years of recruitment having been used [1992 (hairdressers only), 1993, 1994] in 15 vocational training schools in northwest Germany. The information of the final follow-up examination was used for the analysis. RESULTS: A multifactorial analysis taking several (constitutional) risk factors, which were unevenly distributed between the 2 groups, into account revealed a significantly increased risk for hairdressers when compared with office workers (odds ratio approximately 4.0) with a marked decline in the most recently recruited (1994) apprentice group. Other significant factors increasing the dermatitis risk were (i) low ambient absolute humidity, (ii) young age, and (iii) a certain higher range of "atopy score". If the individual profile of occupational exposure among hairdressers was also considered, unprotected wet work of more than 2 hours per day was found to be a significant risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: Good skin protection, as operationalized in the present study, can diminish, but not eliminate, the risk of occupational irritant hand dermatitis among hairdressers.
Authors: Thomas L Diepgen; Gitte Jacobsen; Kurt Rasmussen; Anne Bregnhøj; Marléne Isaksson; Ole Carstensen Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2021-10-19 Impact factor: 3.015