Workers exposed to wet work are at an increased risk for occupational contact dermatitis and may benefit from screening to detect early disease.

This study assessed the frequency of hand dermatitis in home care workers, identified factors that influence presence of disease, and explored feasibility and importance of workplace screening in the home care sector.

Nurses, personal support workers, and rehab therapists self-screened for hand dermatitis using the Hand Dermatitis Screening Tool and accompanying photo guide and completed a short feasibility evaluation.

We found that the prevalence of hand dermatitis in home care workers is higher than reported in the general population: of the 220 participants, 18% self-screened as having hand dermatitis and 77% reported exposure to wet work.

The self-screening tool is feasible for use with home health care workers, and 93% of participants reported that using the tool took less than 2 minutes. The vast majority of participants (84%) agreed that workplace screening for hand dermatitis is important.