Frequent Hand Washing and the Occurrence of Hand Eczema Among Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand
Keywords:
Hand washing, hand eczema, COVID-19 pandemicAbstract
Background: Hand washing is an important method to help prevent COVID-19 infection. Hand eczema is a common skin problem that is often triggered by frequent hand washing with soap and water.
Objectives: To examine the magnitude and related factors of hand eczema among Thai health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Self-administered, online questionnaire was utilized to collect the data from healthcare workers with 18 to 65 years of age. Data collection included general information, underlying diseases, handwashing practice and behavior, an occurrence of hand eczema.
Results: From 333 respondents reported, the mean age was 31.3 ± 7.4 years. The prevalence rate of hand eczema was 52.2% (n=174). Those subjects with hand washing practice with soap and water more than 10 times a day, history of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and allergic contact dermatitis were the statistically significant risk factors to develop hand eczema (p = 0.004, 0.005, <0.001, 0.038, respectively).
Conclusions: Hand eczema in health care workers is common during COVID-19 pandemic. Those persons with frequent hand washing and previous history of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis are the major risk factors. This study encourages awareness about the magnitude of disease awareness, health literacy and health prevention campaigns for hand eczema among health care personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted? [Internet]. 2021. [updated 2021 December 23; cited 2022 April 15]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Show Me the Science - How to Wash Your Hands. 2021. [updated 2021 August 10; cited 2022 April 15]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-handwashing.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Show Me the Science – When & How to Use Hand Sanitizer in Community Settings. 2021. [updated 2020 September 10; cited 2022 April 15]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html
Abtahi-Naeini B. Frequent handwashing amidst the COVID-19 outbreak: prevention of hand irritant contact dermatitis and other considerations. Health Sci Rep 2020;27;3:e163.
Tan CH, Rasool S, Johnston GA. Contact dermatitis: allergic and irritant. Clin Dermatol 2014;32:116-24.
Nolan K, Marmur E. Moisturizers: reality and the skin benefits. Dermatol Ther 2012;25:229-33.
Beiu C, Mihai M, Popa L, Cima L, Popescu MN. Frequent Hand Washing for COVID-19 Prevention Can Cause Hand Dermatitis: Management Tips. Cureus. 2020;12:e7506.
Rundle CW, Presley CL, Militello M, et al. Hand hygiene during COVID-19: Recommendations from the American Contact Dermatitis Society. J Am Acad Dermatol 2020;83:1730-7.
Araghi F, Tabary M, Gheisari M, Abdollahimajd F, Dadkhahfar S. Hand Hygiene Among Health Care Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Recommendations. Dermatitis 2020;31:233-7.
Alsaidan MS, Abuyassin AH, Alsaeed ZH, Alshmmari SH, Bindaaj TF, Alhababi AA. The Prevalence and Determinants of Hand and Face Dermatitis during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Based Survey. Dermatol Res Pract 2020;2020:6627472.
Altunisik Toplu S, Altunisik N, Turkmen D, Ersoy Y. Relationship between hand hygiene and cutaneous findings during COVID-19 pandemic. J Cosmet Dermatol 2020;19:2468-73.
Parsons V, Oxley G, Hines J, Gallagher R, Sunley K, Fellows C, Hodgkinson M, Ormandy K, Gould D. A national survey of skin health in nursing personnel. Occup Med (Lond) 2022;72:264-72.
Susitaival P, Flyvholm MA, Meding B, et al. Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002): a new tool for surveying occupational skin diseases and exposure. Contact Dermatitis 2003;49:70-6.
Burke KM, Wright AJ, Parsons V, Madan I. Influences on use of hand moisturizers in nurses. Occup Med (Lond) 2018;68:340-2.
Erdem Y, Altunay IK, Aksu Çerman A, et al. The risk of hand eczema in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Do we need specific attention or prevention strategies? Contact Dermatitis. 2020;83:422–3.
Jindal R, Pandhi D. Effect of Hand Hygiene Practices in Healthcare Workers on Development of Hand Eczema during Coronavirus-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Online Survey. Indian J Dermatol 2021;66:440-4.
Celik V, Ozkars MY. An overlooked risk for healthcare workers amid COVID-19: Occupational hand eczema. North Clin Istanb 2020;7:527-33.
Metin N, Turan Ç, Utlu Z. Changes in dermatological complaints among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak in Turkey. Acta Dermatovenerol Alp Pannonica Adriat 2020;29:115-22.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Thai Journal of Dermatology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
เนื้อหาและข้อมูลในบทความที่ลงตีพิมพ์ในวารสารโรคผิวหนัง ถือเป็นข้อคิดเห็นและความรับผิดชอบของผู้เขียนบทความโดยตรงซึ่งกองบรรณาธิการวารสาร ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นด้วย หรือร่วมรับผิดชอบใดๆ
บทความ ข้อมูล เนื้อหา รูปภาพ ฯลฯ ที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์ในวารสารโรคผิวหนัง ถือเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ หากบุคคลหรือหน่วยงานใดต้องการนำทั้งหมดหรือส่วนหนึ่งส่วนใดไปเผยแพร่ต่อหรือเพื่อกระทำการใดๆ จะต้องได้รับอนุญาตเป็นลายลักอักษรจากบรรณาธิการวารสารโรคผิวหนังก่อนเท่านั้น
