Assessment of the psychosocial effects of hand dermatitis among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hand hygiene is one of the most crucial measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission; however, frequent handwashing may lead to contact dermatitis causing many problems. Occupational hand dermatitis is a relatively common but challenging issue that imposes a negative effect on the quality of life, work performance, and adherence to hygiene principles. We performed a cross-sectional study to assess the psychosocial impacts of hand dermatitis on healthcare workers (HCWs) using an online Persian version of the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002). Sixty-three from a total of 390 HCWs (21%) reported that hand eczema had adverse effects on their occupation, such as a necessity to use gloves (17.3%) and decreased adherence to hand hygiene (14%). HCWs reported a higher exacerbation of hand dermatitis in winter (40.3%) and fall (24.7%). Hand dermatitis exerted a significant impact on sporting activities, sleep, social life, mood, and sex in 17.7%, 43.3%, 44.3%, 66%, and 11.7% of HCWs, respectively. It seems that hand dermatitis-related impairment of the mentioned activities has increased in HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic.