Improved diagnosing of occupational dermatitis
Every year approximately 2000 new cases of occupational skin disease are reported to the National Board of Industrial Injuries.
Most of them are due to hand eczema caused by allergenic or irritating chemicals. Occupational hand eczema often affects young people under 35 and women twice as often as men.
Occupational hand eczema is often chronic and has lasted an average of 4.4 years before being recognised as occupational.
The annual expense involved is estimated to be around 1 billion DKK, and the condition may lead to change of profession, social expulsion and premature pension.
It is important to map workplace exposures to be able to determine if the disease is work-related, to be able to give correct information to patients and employers and to be able to prevent the problem.
The project consists of three parts:
Part 1: Identifying opportunities and barriers for getting information on exposures
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To develop and validate a tool for standardised workplace mapping of exposures to allergenic and irritant substances based on all available information sources.
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To provide a comprehensive description of the barriers.
Part 2: Developing individualised information to patients with occupational skin disease
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To provide targeted information to individual patients based on individual mapping of exposures.
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To establish a hotline for patients, employers and unions.
Part 3: Developing a standard tool for exposure mapping and information based on the results of Parts 1 and 2
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To prepare a standard for description of workplace exposures to irritant and allergenic chemical substances, which can be used as a tool in patient assessment and information.
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To identify gaps and provide suggestions for improvements.
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To give recommendations for information tailored to each patient.
The project is carried out by Professor Torkil Menné from Department of Dermato-allergology at Gentofte University Hospital and MSc Ulrik Fischer Friis from the National Allergy Research Centre.
