The frequency of hand eczema and related factors in nurses working in a university hospital

The study was conducted in cross-sectional type to examine the frequency of hand eczema and related factors in nurses working in a university hospital. The universe of the study consists of 764 nurses working at Gazi University Health Research and Application Center Gazi Hospital and 78.6% (601) of the population was reached. The data of the study were collected through the Turkish NOSQ-2002/ Long Version Nordic Occupational Skin Disease Detection Questionnaire. Number, percentage, Pearson-χ2, logistic regression analyzes were used to evaluate the data. 93.5% of the nurses participating in the study are women and 41.3% are between the ages of 30-39. The prevalence of symptoms related to hand eczema in nurses participating in the study was found to be 30.6%. 76.6% of nurses with eczema work in inpatient departments, 57.6% work more than 12 hours a day, and 50% work between 1-5 years. (p<0.05). Of the nurses with eczema, 95.1% had a history of eczema, and 23.4% had a history of rash (p<0.05). 86.4% of nurses with eczema wash theirlkö hands more than 20 times a day; 38% used soap, 88% used antiseptic soap; 72.3% of them stated that their hands were in contact with drugs, 76.6% of them stated that they were in contact with antibiotic drugs (p<0.05). The risk of eczema for women is 7,5 times higher than for men, 24,8 times higher for those with a history of eczema, 18,1 times for those with allergies, and 7,6 and 3,9 times for those working in inpatient services and intensive care units, respectively. Occupational working time was determined to be a significant risk factor for eczema (p<0.05). Those who have worked for 1-5 years have a 2.5 times higher risk of eczema compared to those who have worked for >10 years, and those who have worked for 6-10 years have a 3.6 times higher risk of eczema than those who have worked for >10 years. Those who are exposed to anesthetic gas have a 12,9 times higher risk of eczema, and those who are exposed to make-up products have a 1,9 times higher risk of eczema. As a result, as the working hours of nurses' increase, the frequency of hand washing of increase, the use of soap and the use of drugs/antibiotics increase, the symptoms related to eczema are increasing. Within the scope of occupational health nursing, the risks that cause hand eczema in the work environment should be determined and measures should be taken to reduce/eliminate the risks, nurses should be educated about appropriate protective measures, appropriate hand hygiene methods and hand eczema preventive measures, addition to that the use of light, odorless moisturizing lotion should be provided.