HAND ECZEMA IN HAIRDRESSER APPRENTICES - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY ON HAIRDRESSER APPRENTICES

Abstract

The incidence of hand eczema in hairdressers is high and shows a continiously rising tendency. To identify the influencing factors on the genesis of hairdresser's hand eczema we conceived a prospective study, examining hairdresser apprentices regularly during their training. We report on the results of the first phase. We examined 660 apprentices in their first year of training. The majority of them had been working for less than two months. 33.1% showed signs of skin damage in the region of the hands. Most of the skin changes were localized in the interdigital web spaces. A significantly higher risk was found for people with a high atopy score, a history of hand eczema or a history of pompholyx. The aim of this study is, to develop a non-invasive method of dermatological pre-employment screening for skin-irritability by using clinical and anamnestical information. The follow-up-examinations during the training shall also record the efficiency of skin-protecting measures.