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Hautschutzseminare zur sekundären Individualprävention bei Beschäftigten in Gesundheitsberufen

Aim: Healthcare workers are at greater risk of suffering from occupational dermatosis, mainly affecting the hands. In January 2002, the Department of Social Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology of the University of Heidelberg started organising special disease prevention courses for this group of employees. The aim of this course is to improve the individual skin protection and skin care habits of the patients, to complete diagnostic procedures and to optimise individual therapy. Methods: All participants are patients suspected of suffering from an occupational skin disease and belong to the healthcare workers’ government accident prevention and insurance association. The course takes place once a month and has up to 14 participants. In this two-day course, teaching mainly focuses on the texture and functioning of the skin, general aspects of occupational skin diseases, general information concerning skin protection, and instructions on the correct use of skin cleansing and skin protection products. The latter can be applied and checked in a practical section. In addition, every participant is examined by a dermatologist and a precise patient history is drawn up. There is also the opportunity to ask the dermatologist questions in confidence and to talk about individual skin protection strategies. Results: Most of the 172 participants were female (87.8 %) with a mean age of 36 years. 95 % suffered from hand eczema that predominantly was of dyshidrotic morphology. In many cases, there was a mixture of atopic, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, but irritant contact dermatitis was the most frequent. Atopy was present in 68 % of the patients. The participants rated the course as excellent. Other benefits are the exchange of experience among the affected patients working in the same or at least in a similar occupations and the passing on of knowledge to colleagues, family and friends. Conclusions: In future, similar courses should be offered for employees of other professions with an increased risk of occupational skin diseases.