Prevalence of skin disease in the nursing profession - results from the European NEXT-Study

Abstract

Skin diseases constitute a major Occupational disease in nursing. Established risks include exposure to latex, chemicals and wet work. The NEXT-Study investigated working conditions among European nurses. In this secondary analysis of NEXT self-report questionnaire data, work factors are investigated with respect to their association with "physician diagnosed current skin disease". Data from 28,726 nurses from nine countries were analysed. On average 15.3% of all participants reported skin disease (range: 11.3%, Norway to 19.3%, France). Multivariate LogReg analysis revealed a significantly increased risk for women (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.34-1.70), nightshift workers (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.10-1.58), quantitative demands (medium demands OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13-1.35; high demands OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.23-1.47) and influence at work (medium influence OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.19; low influence OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04-1.23). No consistent associations were found for institution, age, qualification, seniority and working hours. Multivariate models for each country tended to confirm overall findings. The findings indicate that still today skin diseases are a frequent burden for nurses. While there is wide absence of identification of structural and socio-epidemiological risks, the psychosocial work environment may constitute another Occupational risk factor besides those established. Observational studies might identify risk procedures or risk behaviour under high psychosocial workload.

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