Dermatological Illnesses of Immigrant Poultry-Processing Workers in North Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arcury TA ; Carrillo L ; Feldman SR ; Marin A ; Quandt SA ; Schulz MR ; Vallejos Q
• Description:
  The authors designed this study to assess skin ailments among male Latino poultry-processing workers in one plant in North Carolina. Because conditions in poultry plants expose workers to multiple agents affecting the skin, the number of skin ailments was expected to be high. A visual skin examination was conducted by a single board-certified dermatologist for 25 male workers. Dermatological Life Quality Index scores and self-reported skin treatment data were obtained through interviews. Each worker had at least one dermatological diagnosis. Infections were most common (onychomycosis, 76%; tinea pedis, 72%), followed by inflammatory diagnoses (acne, 64%). No workers had sought medical treatment. Dermatological Life Quality Index scores indicated impaired quality of life. Worker self-reports were not strongly associated with dermatologist diagnoses. Skin diseases are common among poultry workers and impact workers' quality of life; reasons for lack of medical care should be investigated. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Food Industry Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Dermatological Illness Demographic-characteristics Hispanic Americans Injuries Meat-packing-industry Occupational-health Poultry Poultry-industry Poultry-processing Workers Poultry-workers Racial-factors Skin Diseases Work-environment Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  1933-8244
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  165-169
• Volume:
  60
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031438
• Citation:
  Arch Environ Occup Health 2005 May; 60(3):165-169
• Contact Point Address:
  Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC 27157
• Email:
  squandt@wfubmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  Wake Forest University Health Sciences
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
• End Date:
  20090831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c69d53fda6859bc18b9632a5f4bfdfccca795a5c7048c1f78a07f3d713162d5e10f9154a6c8efb0061a03c8bc28d52479cf317e36e4f374863c92d1f198a8c2d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185735/cdc_185735_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 871.22 KB ]