Occupational dermatitis among construction industry workers in 10th of Ramadan City

Background: Occupational dermatitis among construction workers is a major occupational health concern and skin contact with cement has been associated with contact dermatitis, which ranges from cement burns to cumulative irritant contact dermatitis. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of occupational cement contact dermatitis amongst construction workers in 10^th of Ramadan city. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study amongst workers in construction site hired at two basic construction companies in 10^th of Ramadan city were examined all. A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the demographic data and work-related activities of these construction workers. A complete skin examination was conducted and skin manifestations were assessed by a dermatologist using skin patch test to differentiate type of dermatitis. The data collected was presented and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests to find out the significance of variables. Result: Out of the total number of workers screened 343/676 (50.7%) had contact dermatitis. All were males and the age ranged from 18-55 years (mean 29.1 ± 5.68 years). The most common occupational disease was irritant contact dermatitis in 261 (38.6%) patients, allergic contact dermatitis (give positive results to patch test) in 82 (12.1%) patients and other less frequent skin diseases found like eczema and dermatophytosis among 7.6% and 3.7% of cases respectively. The most common site of lesion was palms of hand (70.2%), tip and side of fingers (35.1%) and dorsa of hands (40.7%). the most common morphology of lesion found was thickening and lichenificantion (64.9%). Conclusion: The issue of allergic and irritant contact hand dermatitis among cement workers in 10^th of Ramadan city had a considerable morbidity. Identification of these patients with adequate treatment and test of the suspected allergens could further help the workers involved