Original article

Scand J Work Environ Health 1995;21(1):30-35    pdf

https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.5 | Issue date: Feb 1995

Dermatoses determined in a population of farmers in questionnaire-based clinical study including methodology validation

by Susitaival P, Husman L, Hollmén A, Horsmanheimo M

Objectives The study analyzed skin diseases in a population sample of Finnish farmers descriptively and in the process validated the question "Do you have a skin disease now?"

Methods All farmers from one Finnish municipality were surveyed for dermatoses, first with a questionnaire and then with a clinical examination of those who reported dermatoses. Another population of farmers answered a set of questions immediately before a clinical examination, and the self-report of current dermatosis was validated.

Results Eczema was diagnosed for 66% of the women and 53% of the men who had reported dermatosis in the questionnaire study 6 to 12 months earlier, toe-web maceration, psoriasis, folliculitis, and acne, after eczema, the most frequent diagnoses (in that order). In more than 50% of the cases, the location of clinically determined dermatoses corresponded with the self-reported skin disease areas. In the validation study, everyone who reported a skin disease at the time of the clinical examination were found to have the disease. In addition 22% of those not reporting dermatosis were found to have a skin disease. Toe-web maceration was the most common dermatosis not reported by the farmers.

Conclusion Finnish farmers suffered from the same type of dermatoses as other populations. The prevalence of eczema and hand eczema was similar for the farmers of this study and other risk populations. A self-report of current dermatosis is probably a good indicator of the point prevalence of explicit skin diseases in populations.

The following articles refer to this text: 2002;28(6):371-385; 2019;45(5):450-457