Occupational dermatoses in health care workers evaluated for suspected allergic contact dermatitis

Occupational skin diseases, including allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), irritant contact dermatitis, and allergic contact urticaria (ACU), occur commonly among health care workers (HCWs).

To evaluate the aetiology of the various skin diseases afflicting HCWs evaluated for suspicion of ACD and/or ACU and to identify the most common allergens among HCWs found to have ACD and/or ACU.

A total of 1434 patients underwent patch testing. The demographic data and most common allergens for HCWs (n = 100) and non-HCWS (n = 1334) were compared.

HCWs were statistically more likely than non-HCWS to be female, have hand dermatitis, and have a history of atopy. HCWs were also more likely to have work-related ACD especially to quaternium-15, thiuram, carba mix, glutaraldehyde and benzalkonium chloride, and to have ACU to latex.

This study was retrospective and is subject to the resultant biases of all such investigations. Only patients suspected of having ACD and who underwent patch testing are included in our database. The prevalence of ACD and ACU is likely to be higher than that seen in the general HCW population.

Our results underscore the importance of thoroughly evaluating HCWs for ACD and ACU with the use of expanded standard allergen series and prick or radioallergosorbent testing to latex.