Hairdressing and beautician apprentices are at high risk of occupational skin diseases. Our objective was to compare the prevalence of skin symptoms and the condition of skin barrier between them at the end of vocational training. We recruited 101 hairdressing and 76 beautician apprentices (overall median age 17 years), who reported their history of skin symptoms through the Croatian translation of the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) and had their hand skin clinically examined and evaluated with the Osnabrück Hand Eczema Severity Index (OHSI). Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was measured following the standard procedure. Hairdressing apprentices reported significantly higher prevalence of hand/wrist eczema or urticaria than beautician apprentices (35 % vs 25 %, respectively; P=0.041) and higher severity of current hand eczema [median (range) 1.5 (0-8) vs 0.5 (0-4), respectively; P<0.001] and had higher hand TEWL values in those who washed their hands >20 times a day [median (interquartile range): 24.4 (19.7-33.7) vs 18.8 (15.4-23.2) g/ m2/h, respectively; P<0.001). Hairdressing apprentices had more severe clinical symptoms on the hands, and 83 % of those who reported eczema also reported that exacerbation occurred during practical training in comparison to 38 % of beautician apprentices. Our study is the first to report occupational hand and forearm skin issues in the beautician apprentices and also suggests that more effort is needed to improve training about safety at work, which should be specifically tailored for these two trades.
Frizerski i kozmetičarski učenici izloženi su velikom riziku od profesionalnih kožnih bolesti. Cilj rada bio je usporediti učestalost kožnih promjena i stanje kožne barijere između frizerskih i kozmetičarskih učenika na kraju stručnoga srednjoškolskoga obrazovanja. U istraživanje je bilo uključeno 76 kozmetičarskih i 101 frizerska učenica (medijan dobi 17 godina). Podatci o samoprijavljenim kožnim simptomima prikupljeni su upitnikom (Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire, NOSQ-2002), a pri kliničkom pregledu kože šaka korišten je validiran indeks (Osnabrück Hand Eczema Severity Index, OHSI). Transepidermalni gubitak vode (Transepidermal Water Loss, TEWL) izmjeren je standardnim postupkom. Rezultati su u frizerskih učenica u odnosu na kozmetičarske učenice pokazali veću prevalenciju samoprijavljenog ekcema šake/zapešća ili urtikarije (35 % vs 25 %, P=0,041), procjenu značajno težeg samoprijavljenog ekcema kože šaka (za trenutni ekcem medijan (raspon) 1,5 (0–8) vs 0,5 (0–4), P<0,001) te više vrijednosti TEWL-a na koži šaka u učenica koje su prijavile da peru ruke <20 puta na dan [medijan (interkvartilni raspon): 24,4 (19,7 – 33,7) g/ m2/h vs 18,8 (15,4 – 23,2) g/m2/h; P<0.001)]. Osim toga, u frizerskih su učenica kliničkim pregledom kože šaka utvrđeni teži simptomi, a većina (83 %) prijavila je pogoršanje ekcema tijekom stručne prakse, u odnosu na 38 % kozmetičarskih učenica. Zaključno, rezultati sugeriraju da je potrebno uložiti više napora u obrazovanje u području zaštite zdravlja kože na radnom mjestu, što bi trebalo biti prilagođeno profesiji.
Keywords: hand eczema; occupational skin diseases; safety at work; transepidermal water loss; vocational training.