Characteristics of ex-hairdressers with occupational hand eczema that left the trade (n=594), either because of hand eczema or for other reasons
| Left the trade because of hand eczema | Adjusted OR (95% CI) | ||
| Yes (n=307) | No (n=287) | ||
| Ex-hairdressers with occupational hand eczema | |||
| Female | 98.7 (303/307) | 97.6 (280/287) | 0.99 (0.28 to 3.55), p=0.99 |
| Age | |||
| 31–40 | 12.4 (38/307) | 11.5 (33/287) | 1.0 (reference) |
| 41–50 | 50.5 (155/307) | 45.6 (131/287) | 0.99 (0.55 to 1.80), p=0.98 |
| 51–60 | 37.1 (114/307) | 41.9 (126/301) 42.5 (122/287) | 0.76 (0.41 to 1.39), p=0.37 |
| >60 | 0.0 (0/307) | 0.3 (1/287) | – |
| A history of atopic dermatitis | 17.3 (53/304) | 7.3 (21/287) | 2.21 (1.23 to 3.98), p=0.01 |
| Patch test | |||
| Not tested | 30.3 (93/307) | 67.2 (193/287) | 1.0 (reference) |
| Negative | 8.8 (27/307) | 11.5 (33/287) | 1.68 (0.95 to 2.98), p=0.08 |
| Positive | 60.9 (187/307) | 21.3 (61/287) | 5.05 (2.31 to 11.02), p<0.001 |
| Allergy | |||
| Hair dyes | 26.1 (80/307) | 1.7 (5/287) | 9.37 (3.43 to 25.61), p<0.001 |
| Preservatives | 11.7 (36/307) | 3.1 (9/287) | 0.89 (0.37 to 2.13), p=0.79 |
| Perfume | 12.4 (38/307) | 4.2 (12/286) | 0.64 (0.28 to 1.48), p=0.30 |
| Nickel | 33.2 (102/307) | 12.9 (37/287) | 0.79 (0.40 to 1.58), p=0.51 |
| Other | 26.4 (81/307) | 9.1 (26/287) | 0.90 (0.45 to 1.80), p=0.77 |
Bold font indicates p<0.05.
*The adjusted OR was obtained from a logistic regression model with the outcome ‘I left the trade because of hand eczema’ (yes/no).