Evaluation of a self-administered questionnaire on hand dermatitis

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Hand dermatitis is a common occupational skin condition.
• Accurate identification of hand dermatitis cases is crucial for epidemiological studies.
• Existing diagnostic methods may have limitations in large-scale population studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a self-administered questionnaire for identifying hand dermatitis in epidemiological research.
• To compare the diagnostic accuracy of a symptom-based versus a self-reported diagnosis against a medical diagnosis.
• To assess the utility of the questionnaire as a screening tool.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 109 nurses completed a self-administered questionnaire on hand dermatitis.
• Participants underwent a dermatological examination within one month of questionnaire completion.
• Two questionnaire-based diagnoses (symptom-based and self-reported) were compared to the medical diagnosis.

Main Results:

• The medical diagnosis revealed a 12-month prevalence of 18.3% for hand dermatitis.
• The symptom-based diagnosis showed a prevalence of 47.7% with 100% sensitivity and 64% specificity.
• The self-reported diagnosis showed a prevalence of 17.4% with 65% sensitivity and 93% specificity.

Conclusions:

• The symptom-based diagnosis is a valuable screening instrument for detecting hand dermatitis in large populations when followed by clinical examination.
• The self-reported diagnosis provides a rough prevalence estimate but may lead to distorted comparisons between study populations.
• Differences in diagnostic definitions and methods significantly impact prevalence estimates for hand dermatitis.