Susan Hovmand Lysdal

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to excessive exposure to wet work and hairdressing chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify occupational skin exposure and the use of protective gloves among hairdressers in Denmark.

METHODS: A register-based study was conducted comprising all graduates from hairdressing vocational schools from 1985 to 2007 (n = 7840). The participants received a self-administered postal questionnaire in May 2009… Vis mere

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to excessive exposure to wet work and hairdressing chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify occupational skin exposure and the use of protective gloves among hairdressers in Denmark.

METHODS: A register-based study was conducted comprising all graduates from hairdressing vocational schools from 1985 to 2007 (n = 7840). The participants received a self-administered postal questionnaire in May 2009, including questions on hairdressing tasks performed in the past week at work and the extent of glove use. A response rate of 67.9% (n = 5324) was obtained.

RESULTS: Of the respondents, 55.7% still worked as hairdressers, and they formed the basis of this study. Daily wet work was excessive; 86.6% had wet hands for ≥2 hr, and 54% for ≥ 4 hr. Glove use was fairly frequent for full head hair colouring and bleaching procedures (93-97.7%), but less frequent for highlighting/lowlighting procedures (49.7-60.5%) and permanent waving (28.3%). Gloves were rarely worn during hair washing (10%), although this was more frequently the case after hair colouring procedures (48.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: Occupational skin exposure was excessive among hairdressers; the extent of wet work and chemical treatments was high, and glove use was inconsistent, especially for certain hair colouring procedures and wet work tasks.

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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to wet work and chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate whether hairdressers in Denmark have their hand eczema reported as an occupational disease and to clarify the reasons for not reporting.

METHODS: A register-based study was performed, comprising trained hairdressers (n = 7840), using a self-administered postal questionnaire including questions on hand eczema and it being reported as an occupational… Vis mere

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to wet work and chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate whether hairdressers in Denmark have their hand eczema reported as an occupational disease and to clarify the reasons for not reporting.

METHODS: A register-based study was performed, comprising trained hairdressers (n = 7840), using a self-administered postal questionnaire including questions on hand eczema and it being reported as an occupational disease. A response rate of 67.9% (n = 5324) was obtained.

RESULTS: Overall, 2186 respondents ever had hand eczema; 71.3% were apprentices at the time of hand eczema onset. The majority (61.9%) had had hand eczema several times and 21.3% (almost) all of the time, but only 20.7% had reported their hand eczema as being occupational to the National Board of Industrial Injuries (Denmark). A positive association between severity of hand eczema and filing a report was found (odds ratio 19.2; 95% confidence interval 8.18-45.06). The main reasons for not reporting were 'I thought it would eventually get better' (40.4%) and 'My doctor didn't tell me it was possible to report it' (26.6%).

CONCLUSIONS: Hand eczema is considerably under-reported as an occupational disease; the perception of hand eczema among hairdressers and the lack of reporting from doctors are the main reasons for this.

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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to wet work and hairdressing chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of hand eczema and its career consequences among hairdressers in Denmark.

METHODS: A register-based study was conducted, comprising all graduates from hairdressing vocational schools from 1985 to 2007 (n = 7840). The participants received a self-administered postal questionnaire including questions on hand eczema, atopic… Vis mere

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to wet work and hairdressing chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of hand eczema and its career consequences among hairdressers in Denmark.

METHODS: A register-based study was conducted, comprising all graduates from hairdressing vocational schools from 1985 to 2007 (n = 7840). The participants received a self-administered postal questionnaire including questions on hand eczema, atopic dermatitis, and career change. A response rate of 67.9% (n = 5324) was obtained.

RESULTS: Of the respondents, 44.3% no longer worked as hairdressers and had worked for an average of 8.4 years in the profession before leaving it. Hand eczema was more common among ex-hairdressers (48.4%) than among current hairdressers (37.6%) (p < 0.0001), and significantly more ex-hairdressers (26.8%) than current hairdressers (15.7%) had chronic hand eczema (p < 0.0001). Of the respondents with hand eczema, 75% were aged 15-24 years at onset, and 45.5% gave hand eczema as a reason for career change. In this group, logistic regression analysis showed that chronic hand eczema contributed the most to the decision to change career (odds ratio 50.12; 95% confidence interval 18.3-137).

CONCLUSIONS: Hairdressers work an average of 8.4 years in the profession before leaving it, and hand eczema contributes significantly to this career change.

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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fragrance ingredients are a common cause of contact allergy. Very little is known about these patients' strategies to manage their disease and the effect on their daily lives.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if patients with diagnosed fragrance contact allergy used scented products, how they identified tolerated products, and if fragrance allergy affected their daily living.

METHOD: One hundred and forty-seven patients diagnosed with fragrance contact allergy in… Vis mere

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fragrance ingredients are a common cause of contact allergy. Very little is known about these patients' strategies to manage their disease and the effect on their daily lives.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if patients with diagnosed fragrance contact allergy used scented products, how they identified tolerated products, and if fragrance allergy affected their daily living.

METHOD: One hundred and forty-seven patients diagnosed with fragrance contact allergy in a 20-month period were included and received a postal questionnaire concerning the subjects of the study. One hundred and seventeen (79.6%) replied.

RESULTS: In total, 53/117 (45.3%) responded that they had found some scented products that they could tolerate. Thirty-seven (31.6%) had not tried to find any scented products and 26 (22%) had tried but could not find any. The methods most often used were trying different products and reading the ingredient label. Of the total respondents, 17.1% reported sick-leave due to fragrance allergy and 45.3% found that fragrance allergy significantly affected their daily living.

CONCLUSION: Many patients with fragrance contact allergy succeeded in finding some scented products, which they could tolerate, e.g. by use of ingredient labelling, but a significant proportion had continued skin problems. Almost half of the patients perceived that fragrance allergy significantly affected their daily lives
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have reported an increased risk of asthma after respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalization. Other studies found that asthmatic disposition and propensity to wheeze increase the risk of RSV hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined the causal direction of the associations between RSV hospitalization and asthma in a population-based cohort of twins.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study examining the associations… Vis mere

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have reported an increased risk of asthma after respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalization. Other studies found that asthmatic disposition and propensity to wheeze increase the risk of RSV hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined the causal direction of the associations between RSV hospitalization and asthma in a population-based cohort of twins.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study examining the associations between RSV hospitalization and asthma by using registry information on RSV hospitalization and asthma among 18,614 Danish twins born 1994 to 2003. The associations between RSV and asthma were examined in both directions: we examined the risk of asthma after RSV hospitalization, and the risk of RSV hospitalization in children with asthma in the same population-based cohort.

RESULTS: Asthma hospitalization after RSV hospitalization was increased as much as 6-fold to 8-fold during the first 2 months after RSV hospitalization but was no longer increased 1 year later. Asthma increased the risk of RSV hospitalization by 3-fold, and the risk was not time-dependent. Analyzing these associations on the basis of asthma defined from use of inhaled corticosteroid did not materially change the risk estimates.

CONCLUSION: There is a bidirectional association between severe RSV infection and asthma. Severe RSV infection is associated with a short-term increase in the risk of subsequent asthma, suggesting that RSV induce bronchial hyperresponsiveness; and asthma is associated with a long-term increased susceptibility for severe RSV disease, suggesting a host factor being responsible for the severe response to RSV infection. This suggests that severe RSV infection and asthma may share a common genetic predisposition and/or environmental exposure
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