New-onset or Exacerbated Occupational Hand Eczema among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Growing Health Problem.

ABSTRACT

Hand hygiene is one of the cornerstones in ensuring effective infection control during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of new-onset occupational HE during the COVID-19 outbreak in healthcare workers (HCWs) and the clinical course, clinical features, and risk factors of occupational hand eczema (HE). A total of 159 volunteer HCWs (female n=112; male n=47, mean age=35.55±7.03 years) working in a pandemic hospital were included. Participants were questioned in terms of daily hand hygiene, use of gloves, and signs and symptoms associated with HE before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. HCWs were divided into two groups classified as non-COVID and COVID, according to the unit they worked in. In our study, 55 participants reported new-onset signs and/or symptoms associated with HE during the COVID-19 pandemic. 59 participants described an increase in signs and/or symptoms associated with HE. The presence of newly-formed or increased signs and/or symptoms associated with HE was found to be 71.7%. A significant increase in dryness, itching, pain/burning, erythema, and scaling was observed (P<0.05). No difference was found between the COVID and non-COVID groups in terms of newly formed and/or increased signs and symptoms (P>0.05). The study included a limited number of participants, and the participants self-reported the signs and symptoms associated with HE. During the COVID-19 period, there has been a significant increase in the signs and symptoms of occupational HE as a result of increased hand hygiene practices in HCWs.