Winter season, frequent hand washing, and irritant patch test reactions to detergents are associated with hand dermatitis in health care workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baron E ; Callahan A ; Fekedulegn D ; Johnson VJ ; Kashon M ; Kirkland B ; Luster MI ; Nedorost S ; Santo Domingo D ; Yucesoy, Berran
• Description:
  Background: Irritant hand dermatitis (IHD) is common in health care workers. Objective: We studied endogenous irritant contact dermatitis threshold by patch testing and exogenous factors such as season and hand washing for their association with IHD in health care workers. Methods: Irritant patch testing with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium hydroxide, and benzalkonium chloride at varying concentrations was measured in 113 health care workers. Examination for hand dermatitis occurred at 1-month intervals for a period of 6 months in the Midwestern United States. Results: Positive patch testing to low-concentration SLS was associated with IHD (P = 0.0310) after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, season, history of childhood flexural dermatitis, mean indoor relative humidity, and glove and hand sanitizer usage. Subjects with a positive patch test to SLS were 78% more likely to have occurrence of IHD (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-3.45). Hand washing frequency (> / = 10 times a day; IRR = 1.55; 95% CI, 1.01-2.39) and cold season (IRR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.35-5.65) were associated with IHD. No association was found between history of childhood flexural dermatitis and IHD in this population. Conclusions: Both genetic and environmental factors are important in the etiology of IHD and should be considered in designing strategies to protect, educate, and treat susceptible individuals. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chlorine Cold Temperature Demography Dermatitis Detergents Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Genetics Health Personnel Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Skin Skin Absorption Skin Diseases

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• Keywords:
  Chlorides Cold-weather-operations Contact-dermatitis Demographic-characteristics Environmental-factors Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Genetic-factors Gloves Hand-protection Health-care-personnel Hydroxides Patch-tests Sanitation Seasonal-factors Skin-absorption Skin-disorders Skin-exposure Skin-irritants Skin-sensitivity Skin-tests Sodium-compounds Statistical-analysis Sulfates

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• ISSN:
  1710-3568
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  170-175
• Volume:
  24
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043021
• Citation:
  Dermatitis 2013 Jul/Aug; 24(4):170-175
• Contact Point Address:
  Susan Nedorost, MD, Department of Dermatology, University Hospitals, 11100 Euclid Ave, Lakeside 3500, Cleveland, OH 44106-5028
• Email:
  stn@case.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quaternary ammonium compounds, alkylbenzyldimethyl, chlorides (CAS RN 8001-54-5) ; Sodium dodecyl sulfate (CAS RN 151-21-3) ; Sodium hydroxide (CAS RN 1310-73-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Dermatitis
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:90269413bf6d0efa80120a2f1c3ef02b9cd1e28960f6aba71c666c1fa11dee51a83a4e64da800f143b0e7037426bedf2ca2d0181ef5ec9c4b5cc0aeb6ac55b54
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195052/cdc_195052_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 360.32 KB ]