Abstract

BARCHINO ORTIZ, Lucía et al. Dermatosis profesionales en cuidadores de ancianos. Med. segur. trab. [online]. 2007, vol.53, n.207, pp.35-46. ISSN 1989-7790.

The increasing proportion of elderly citizens worldwide is leading to the development of a new professional group of people who are specialized in elderly personal care. They may have an increased risk of occupational skin damage due to the characteristics of their work that is often associated with regular exposure to skin irritants and constant wetwork. Skin disease studies within this group are rare.  Aims: The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the characteristics and dermatologic diagnosis of the patients that work taking care of elderly people studied in our department.  Methods: We studied retrospectively all 41 patients who work as elder care-taker who attended our department in a 11-year period.  Results: We found an absolute female predominance. The most common location affected was the hands. Of the skin diseases clinically diagnosed, endogenous eczema showed the highest prevalence (39,6%) followed by irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) (27,1%), allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) (12,5%), asymptomatic (10,4%), allergy to natural rubber latex (NRL) (4,2%) and others.  Conclusions: Elderly care-taker workers are emerging and they have a great social importance. They are at increased risk of occupational skin disease due to contact with several substances and wet work. In our study, endogenous eczema, represented by atopic dermatitis, is the most important diagnosis. It could be concluded that irritants, occlusion and wet work favoured the development of dermatitis in vulnerable patients that would be remained asymptomatic avoiding this work. New further studies are needed.

Keywords : Occupational skin disease; Elderly care; Geriatric nursing assistant; Elderly care-taker worker; Wet work.

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