Occupational skin diseases in hairdressing apprentices - has anything changed?

Background: Hairdressers are at risk for occupational skin diseases. Since 2008, an educational programme has been conducted in Danish hairdressing schools to prevent occupational skin diseases. Its effect is unknown.

Objective: To examine the current frequency of self-reported hand eczema and contact urticaria in Danish hairdressing apprentices as compared with controls, and to determine the occurrence of hand eczema and contact urticaria in hairdressing apprentices with different durations of exposure to the trade.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire study conducted among 504 hairdressing apprentices and a control group of 1400 adolescents from the general population.

Results: Hand eczema was significantly more prevalent in the hairdressing apprentices than in controls (34.5% versus 18.8%, p < 0.001). The incidence rate of hand eczema among hairdressing apprentices was 98 cases/1000 person-years. Contact urticaria was also more prevalent in the hairdressing apprentices (7.3% versus 4.2%, p = 0.006). Both diseases increased with increasing duration of exposure to the trade.

Conclusion: Despite educational efforts to prevent occupational skin diseases in the hairdressing schools, Danish apprentices are still at increased risk for hand eczema and contact urticaria. Both diseases develop after only a few years of work in hairdressing. Further preventive strategies are warranted.