MMed (Community Health), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Introduction Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) is the most common occupational skin disease. OCD can be either due to irritants or allergens or a combination of these two agents. Irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) tends to be more common than allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Skin diseases affect the financial, psychosocial and occupational lives of people. Productivity in the work place is detrimentally affected. OCD is regulated under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Disease Act (COID Act) which is administered by the Commissioner. The OCD cases seen at the dermatology clinic at the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) sees a number of cases from a wide spectrum of industries with a variety of exposures but, these are not well described. Aims and objectives Aims: 1. To describe the cases seen at the occupational dermatology clinic at the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH). 2. To describe the industries and exposure agents of cases diagnosed with occupational contact dermatitis (OCD). 3. To describe the psychosocial, financial and occupational impact and compensation outcomes of cases diagnosed with OCD. Objectives: 1. To describe the age, sex, diagnosis, site of dermatosis and skin patch test results of cases seen at the occupational dermatology clinic from August 2005 to December 2007. 2. To describe the jobs, the industries and suspected exposure agents of cases with OCD and dermatosis not related to vocation. 3. To determine the duration of exposure to a suspected agent before a diagnosis was made. iv 4. To describe the psychosocial, financial and occupational impact of the skin conditions. 5. To describe compensation outcomes including claim status, outstanding documentation; the experience of claimants with the Commissioner’s office; the delay from submission to resolution. Methods Data were collected from the medical records of patients seen at the NIOH dermatology clinic from August 2005 to December 2007 (n=129). Telephone interviews were done with all participants that could be contacted (n=94). A questionnaire was administered by telephone enquiring about their current occupational status and occupational exposures; the impact of their skin disease on their finances, personal lives and vocation; and their experience with the Commissioner’s office. The status of claims submitted to the Commissioner’s office (n=64) was verified by reviewing the electronic records of the Commissioner’s office. Descriptive and analytical analysis was done using STATA 10. Multivariate analysis was done to examine factors that might determine the compensation outcome. Results One hundred and twenty eight medical records were reviewed. The mean age of OCD patients was 41.9 years and 48 (75%) were males. ACD was diagnosed in 35 OCD participants and ICD in 29 participants. The rash occurred on the hands in 36 (56.3%) of the 64 OCD patients. The median duration of exposure to a suspected agent was 96.8 months. The median duration from diagnosis to the visit to the Commissioner’s office was 19 months. Dermatosis on the hands had an odds ratio of 2.33 for loss of income. There was a greater chance of a claim being resolved if the skin patch test was positive. Only eight of the 64 cases were resolved at the time of the visit to the Commissioner’s office. v Discussion The impact of a skin dermatosis was similar in OCD and non OCD participants and impacted on their social lives and work performance. ICD and ACD were equally represented in the cohort. Workers generally reported a negative impression of the compensation process. There were many systems issues identified in the compensation process. This resulted in few cases being resolved. Many pieces of documentation required for the compensation process to be finalised were missing. Conclusion The financial, psychosocial and occupational impact of a skin disease was significant and similar between cases who were diagnosed with OCD and non OCD patients. The COID Act Commissioner had failed to administer the Compensation Fund effectively and to provide compensation to workers diagnosed with OCD.

Thesis--University of Utrecht. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-121).

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1943.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1943.

Thesis--University of Utrecht. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-121).

No description available.

No description available.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common chronic dermatological diseases. It has affected up to a fifth of schoolchildren and their caregivers. It will alter not only children’s physical health, but also worsen the quality of life among children and their family. This global public health problem also increased the financial and social burden to healthcare system in the past decades. Educational intervention has been proved to be an adjunct to current treatment to restore the altered quality of life and skin condition effectively. It could be simply carried out by trained nurses in the routine practice to educate patients about proper AD management. However, such intervention is seldom mentioned in the local setting. Therefore, it is essential to establish an effective evidence-based guideline of nursing consultation in order to enhance patients’ clinical outcomes. The objectives of this study are to search and synthesize current literatures systematically in educational interventions for AD children for reducing disease severity and improving quality of life, to assess the implementation potential of identified educational interventions, to develop an evidence-based guideline of nursing consultation for providing better skin care to the AD children and to develop the implementation and evaluation plan the proposed intervention. Nursing consultation session for AD children is proposed in this study. The target population and setting are AD children aged from 4-16 years attending to one of the local public dermatological outpatient clinics. Evidence and relevant data are yielded from eight high-quality studies. The potential of implementing the proposed intervention is assessed based on the transferability of the findings, feasibility and the cost-benefit ratio. An evidence-based guideline is eventually developed with the best evidence-based findings. At last, an implementation plan and evaluation plan for the proposed guideline are well designed. This evidence-based guideline is designed to improve the quality of life and reduce the severity of skin condition of AD children. It is recommended to establish to all dermatological outpatient clinics locally. / published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

In general, AD is diagnosed based on Hanifin and Rajka's diagnostic criteria or the UK working diagnostic criteria. The atopic status of study participants was evaluated clinically by (1) the presence of atopic symptoms including allergie rhinitis, asthma or hyperactive airway disease in patients, parents, and/or siblings, (2) measuring the concentrations of total and allergen-specific IgE in their peripheral blood, and/or (3) positive skin prick tests to common aeroallergens or food allergens. The severity of AD was assessed either clinically by validated disease scores, objective serum parameters such as serum chemokine levels, or physiological parameters such as nocturnal wrist movements. Quality of life (QoL) is assessed with the Cantonese version of the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). Although not a gold standard, ail assessment tools were compared against SCORAD. / Research Hypotheses or aims: (1) To investigate if AD severity as determined by a 12-month-severity score correlates with a validated acute severity score. The research aims to establish a chronic severity scores for local use in AD research. (2) To explore if correlations exist between objective and subjective symptoms. (3) To evaluate if quality of life (QoL) correlates with disease severity. (4) To assess if age and gender may affect quality of life. (5) To explore if serum markers (CTACK, IL-18, BDNF, and substance P.) correlate with disease severity or quality of life score. (6) To evaluate if urine LTE4 as a non-serum marker correlates with disease severity. (7) To evaluate if nocturnal wrist movements correlate with various clinical and laboratory markers. (8) To evaluate if skin hydration (SH) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) correlate with severity and QoL. (9) In a final chapter, we give a number of clinical studies to illustrate the application of these methods in clinical research. / The objectives of the MD thesis are to explore various clinical scores, quality of life evaluation, laboratory tests, and mechano-physiological parameters as assessment tools for the evaluation of AD. The research hypotheses are that many aspects of the disease can be objectively measured by these new scores and markers. The application of some of these assessment tools in clinical trials will be described. In all of the studies reported, I am the principal investigator and the first author of the publications in indexed medical journals. / Kam Lun Ellis Hon. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3419. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-213). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Zürich, 1942. / Title and imprint from cover. "Zürich 1942 - Schweizerische Monatsschrift für Zahnheilkunde. Band 52, Nr. 6"--P. [2] of cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-24).