Does the Occupational Contact Dermatitis Disease Severity Index correlate with quality of life in patients with occupational contact dermatitis of the hands?

Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) is the most common occupational skin disease in many countries. We reviewed the current evidence on how OCD impacts on quality of life (QoL). The three commonly used QoL questionnaires in OCD were the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and the Skindex. Despite the availability of a variety of validated QoL instruments, none of them is specific to OCD or entirely adequate in capturing the impact of OCD on QoL. Nonetheless, the results of this paper do suggest a significant impact. Use of QoL measures in clinical settings will provide patients with an opportunity to express their concerns and assist clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of management beyond the clinical outcomes. This paper also highlights the lack of a disease-specific QOL instrument and the importance of developing a validated measure to assess QOL in OCD, enabling comparison across countries and occupational groups.

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Quality of Life of Healthcare Workers Suffering from Occupational Contact Dermatitis

Recent Advances in Inflammation & Allergy Drug Discovery ◽

10.2174/1872213x14666210303155135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Amira Omrane ◽

Asma Khedher ◽

Chayma Harrathi ◽

Maher Maoua ◽

Taoufik Khalfallah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Contact Dermatitis ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Female Gender ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Healthcare Personnel ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Occupational Contact Dermatitis

Background: Healthcare workers are at a high risk of developing Occupational Dermatitis (OD). Affected workers often experience severe impairment of their Quality of Life (QoL). This study aimed to assess the skin-related QoL of healthcare workers with OD and to explore its related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional and exhaustive study was conducted among healthcare personnel of four public hospitals in the central region of Tunisia. All the cases of OD declared were included. Skin-related QoL was assessed using the validated Tunisian version of the “Dermatology Life Quality Index” (DLQI). Some related patents were discussed. Results: A total of 37 cases of OD were collected with an annual incidence of 4.2 cases per 10000 workers. The population was predominantly female (73%) and mean aged 44.7±9.4 years. Nurses were the most represented occupational category (38%). Allergic contact dermatitis was the most frequent diagnosis (96%). Use of gloves was the most frequently reported occupational hazard (86%). The most frequently affected sites were hands (97%). The median score of DLQI was five. Multivariate analysis showed an association between the impairment of skin-related QoL and female gender (p = 0.04; OR = 19.3,84), exposure to disinfecting chemicals in the workplace (p = 0.01; OR = 17,306) and the absence of occupational reclassification (p = 0.01; OR = 21,567). Conclusion: About one third of the population had an impaired quality of life. The score impairment was significantly related to female gender, exposure to disinfecting chemicals and the absence of occupational reclassification.

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Hand Eczema: Quality of Life and Disease Severity in an Outpatient Portuguese Population

Revista da Sociedade Portuguesa de Dermatologia e Venereologia ◽

10.29021/spdv.76.2.808 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 137-142

Author(s):

Rui Pedro Santos ◽

Laura Igreja ◽

Cristina Resende ◽

Teresa Pereira ◽

Celeste Brito

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Disease Severity ◽

Life Quality ◽

Severity Index ◽

Hand Eczema ◽

Common Disease ◽

Female Predominance ◽

Duration Of Disease ◽

A Prospective Study

Introduction: Hand eczema is a very common disease with a significant social and occupational impact.Objectives: To characterize a Portuguese outpatient population with hand eczema; to evaluate the impairment of the disease in quality of life (QoL); to relate the disease severity with QoL.Methods: The authors designed a prospective study. Information about atopy, psoriasis, occupational exposure and duration of disease, was recorded. The QoL was assessed by the DLQI questionnaire (Dermatology Life Quality Index) and the severity was assessed using the hand eczema severity index (HECSI). All participants were patch tested.Results: Eighty-five patients were included with a female predominance (78.8%). The median DLQI was 9.0. We found statistically significant differences in the variable HECSI between genders with greater impact in males. A significant positive correlation was found between HECSI and DLQI. DLQI and HECSI were independent of atopy, psoriasis or etiology. Increasing age significantly affects DLQI but not HECSI.Conclusions: Hand eczema has a significant impact in QoL. Although the disease is more prevalent among women it was found to be of greater severity among men. The QoL seems to be influenced by disease severity and increasing age but it was independent of the other studied variables.

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