ΙΑΤΡΟΣ ΕΡΓΑΣΙΑΣ
ΕΚΠΟΝΙΣΑΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΩΤΗ ΜΕΛΕΤΗ ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΜΑΤΙΚΩΝ ΔΕΡΜΑΤΟΠΑΘΕΙΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΣΕ ΔΕΙΓΜΑ 4000 ΕΡΓΑΖΟΜΕΝΩΝ ΣΕ 20 ΕΙΔΗ ΕΠΙΧΕΙΡΗΣΕΩΝ
Original Article
Occupational Dermatoses by Type of Work in Greece
Eleni Zorba 1,*, Antony Karpouzis 2, Alexandros Zorbas 3, Theodore Bazas 4, Sam Zorbas 1,
Elias Alexopoulos 5, Ilias Zorbas 1, Konstantinos Kouskoukis 2, Theodoros Konstandinidis 2
1 Program of Postgraduate Studies, Health and Safety in Workplaces, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
2 Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
3 GIOTIS S.A., Industry of Dairy e Baby Food e Products, Athens, Greece
4 Committee of Health and Welfare, Municipality of Philothei e Psychiko, Athens, Greece
5 Committee of Occupational Diseases, National Institute of Health (IKA), Nea Filadelfia, Athens, Greece
Α b s t r a c t
Background: To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of
work in Greece.
Methods: This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in
20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006e2012, using data from company medical records,
questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The c2 test was applied to reveal statistically
significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs.
Results: A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The
highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact
dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%),
construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%),
and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%).We observed several statistical significant correlations between
ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and
certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and
prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [c2
(1) ¼ 13.40, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [c2 (1) ¼ 5.53, p ¼ 0.019] afflicting mainly
women.
Conclusion: Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National
Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting
ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.
2013, Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute. Published by Elsevier. All rights reserved.
* Corresponding author. Program of Postgraduate Studies, Health and Safety in Workplaces, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 13 Filota Street, Thrakomakedones
Athens, 13676, Greece.
E-mail address: eleni_zorba@yahoo.com (E. Zorba).
