TY - JOUR
T1 - Occupational hand eczema reduces career length in hairdressers
T2 - a prospective cohort study of Danish hairdressers graduating from 1985 to 2007
AU - Havmose, Martin
AU - Thyssen, Jacob Pontoppidan
AU - Zachariae, Claus
AU - Uter, Wolfgang
AU - Johansen, Jeanne Duus
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema (OHE) is common in hairdressers, and many leave the trade because of the disease. However, the exact impact of OHE on career length is unknown.OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of OHE on career length and risk factors associated with leaving the trade because of OHE in hairdressers followed-up for up to 35 years.METHODS: A prospective cohort study of Danish hairdressers graduating between 1985 and 2007 (n=5219) was performed. A questionnaire was sent in 2009 and 2020. The Danish Labor Marked Supplementary Pension Scheme provided information on affiliation to the hairdressing profession. Career length was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analyses.RESULTS: The median survival time was 12.0 (95% CI 11.0 to 13.0) years in graduates with OHE and 14.0 (95% CI 12.6 to 15.4) years in graduates without OHE (p<0.001). Graduates with a frequency of hand eczema (HE) of 'once', 'several times' and 'almost all the time' had a median survival time of 20.0 (95% CI 14.6 to 25.4), 12.0 (95% CI 10.7 to 13.3) and 7.0 (95% CI 5.6 to 8.4) years, respectively. Graduates with OHE that left the trade (partly) because of HE constituted 11.7% of the study population. Factors associated with leaving the trade because of HE included a history of atopic dermatitis (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 4.0), a history of a positive patch test (aOR 5.1 (95% CI 2.3 to 11.0) and allergy to hair dyes (aOR 9.4 (95% CI 3.4 to 25.6).CONCLUSION: Career length is reduced in hairdressers with OHE, especially if frequently relapsing or caused by contact allergy, for example, to hair dyes.
AB - BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema (OHE) is common in hairdressers, and many leave the trade because of the disease. However, the exact impact of OHE on career length is unknown.OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of OHE on career length and risk factors associated with leaving the trade because of OHE in hairdressers followed-up for up to 35 years.METHODS: A prospective cohort study of Danish hairdressers graduating between 1985 and 2007 (n=5219) was performed. A questionnaire was sent in 2009 and 2020. The Danish Labor Marked Supplementary Pension Scheme provided information on affiliation to the hairdressing profession. Career length was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analyses.RESULTS: The median survival time was 12.0 (95% CI 11.0 to 13.0) years in graduates with OHE and 14.0 (95% CI 12.6 to 15.4) years in graduates without OHE (p<0.001). Graduates with a frequency of hand eczema (HE) of 'once', 'several times' and 'almost all the time' had a median survival time of 20.0 (95% CI 14.6 to 25.4), 12.0 (95% CI 10.7 to 13.3) and 7.0 (95% CI 5.6 to 8.4) years, respectively. Graduates with OHE that left the trade (partly) because of HE constituted 11.7% of the study population. Factors associated with leaving the trade because of HE included a history of atopic dermatitis (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 4.0), a history of a positive patch test (aOR 5.1 (95% CI 2.3 to 11.0) and allergy to hair dyes (aOR 9.4 (95% CI 3.4 to 25.6).CONCLUSION: Career length is reduced in hairdressers with OHE, especially if frequently relapsing or caused by contact allergy, for example, to hair dyes.
KW - Denmark/epidemiology
KW - Dermatitis, Allergic Contact/epidemiology
KW - Dermatitis, Occupational/epidemiology
KW - Eczema/epidemiology
KW - Hair Dyes/adverse effects
KW - Hand Dermatoses/chemically induced
KW - Humans
KW - Prospective Studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135156625&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108230
DO - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108230
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35738888
SN - 1351-0711
VL - 79
SP - 649
EP - 655
JO - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
IS - 10
M1 - 2022-108230
ER -