Self-reported hand eczema prevalence in hairdressers of Urmia city and its associated factors in 2015

Hairdressers in their occupation are exposed to different chemicals and sensitizers that may cause adverse skin effects such as hand eczema. The current investigation aimed to determin the self-reported hand eczema prevalence in a sample of hairdressers of Urmia city and its associated factors in 2015.
The study was a cross-sectional case control design in which 385 hairdressers and 385 women from general population were selected as case and control groups, respectively. One-year prevalence of hand eczema was detemined using Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire by the face to face interview. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 version using descriptive and analytical statistics such as chi-squered, T-test, and logistic regression.
The mean and standard deviation for age and work experience of hairdressers were 33.16±7.2 and 8.72 ±7/5, respectively.One-year prevalence of hand eczema in hairdressers and control group were %27.8 (CI=23.32-32.28) and %13.2 (CI=9.02-15.58). The odds ratio (OR) for hand eczema in hairdressers (their control group as the reference) was 2.52 (CI=1.72-3.64). Base on the logistic regression analysis, smoking (OR=3.44 (1.73-6.85)), age less than 30 years (OR=1.76 (1.04-2.96)), and work experience less than 10 years (OR=3.14 (1.63-6.04)) increased the chance of having hand eczema in hairdressers.
According to this study, it could be concluded that hairdressers, compared to the general population, are at a higher risk of hand eczema. Therefore, occupational protective measures should be applied in this occupation to decline and control of hand eczema. It is proposed that young hairdressers would be more careful to prevent skin problems such as hand eczema.