The novel questionnaire assessing occupational exposure to the risk factors of contact allergy among health professionals

INTRODUCTION: Skin diseases account for about 7% of all occupational diseases in Europe. Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is one of the most common occupational skin diseases. Therefore, it constitutes the major health and economic problem. Increasing the detectability of ACD would significantly improve the quality of life of patients and their work efficiency. AIM: To design a questionnaire facilitating the diagnosis of ACD in work environment of healthcare providers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The initial questionnaire consisted of 53 questions related to ACD and exposure to various occupational hazards. On its basis, a scale of exposure to occupational skin diseases (OSDES-49) was created. The reliability of the scale was measured using the internal consistency test of the scale. It was assumed that individual items of the scale would be correlated with the total score if the Kleine and Nunnally criteria were met. RESULTS: The Kleine and Nunnally criteria were met by 16 out of 49 items on the scale. OSDES-49 results were strongly correlated with the assessment using a questionnaire consisting of only 16 items (OSDES-16). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was rho = 0.850 and p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the study showed that in any further screening tests, the OSDES-16 scale is reliable. The use of OSDES-16 reduces the time of initial diagnostics and simplifies it.