Assessing contact dermatitis risk among Manitoba workers in the Manitoba Occupational Disease Surveillance System

This exploratory study aimed to assess contact dermatitis (CD) risk among workers using the Manitoba Occupational Disease Surveillance System (MODSS).

The MODSS linked accepted time-loss claims from the Workers' Compensation Board of Manitoba (2006-2019), with administrative health data from medical and hospital records (1996-2020). CD risk by occupation and industry (hazard ratio, 95% confidence intervals) was estimated using Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for age and stratified by sex.

Increased risk of new onset CD was observed among some occupations and industries with known skin irritants and allergens. Some occupations with known increased risks of CD remained elevated when removing the accepted WCB cases was performed, suggesting that all CD cases in these occupations may not show up in WCB statistics. Increased risk was also observed for occupations and industries with unknown exposures related to CD, whereas some groups known to be at risk of CD were not observed to have elevated risks in this cohort.

The MODSS successfully identified some occupations and industries known to be at high risk of occupational CD, but not others. Some occupations not typically associated with work-related CD were also identified, which warrants further investigation.