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Skin symptoms and disease during work with visual display terminals
1Department of Neuromedicine, National Institute of Occupational Health, Solna, Sweden.
Contact Dermatitis
|April 1, 1994
Summary
Visual display terminal (VDT) work may increase the risk of skin conditions like seborrhoeic eczema and nonspecific erythema. Organizational factors and low humidity, not electromagnetic fields, were linked to these VDT-associated skin issues.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Dermatology
- Environmental Health
Background:
- Workplace factors can influence employee health.
- Visual display terminals (VDTs) are common in modern offices.
- Potential links between VDT use and skin conditions require investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between VDT work and skin diseases, signs, or symptoms.
- To identify specific work conditions or environmental factors associated with VDT-related skin issues.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 353 office workers.
- Dermatological examinations for skin diseases and signs.
- Questionnaires for VDT work, other conditions, and symptoms.
- Environmental measurements of the workplace.
- Multivariate analysis of collected data.
Main Results:
- A tendency for increased seborrhoeic eczema, nonspecific erythema, and symptoms was observed in VDT users.
- Perceived high work pace, workload, and lack of breaks were associated with reported skin symptoms and erythema.
- Low relative humidity correlated with a diagnosis of seborrhoeic eczema.
- No association was found between electric/magnetic fields and skin conditions.
Conclusions:
- Organizational factors and low humidity are associated with VDT-related skin problems.
- VDT work itself may contribute to certain skin conditions.
- Electromagnetic fields at typical workplace levels do not appear to affect skin health in this study.