Characteristics of skin damage among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic: an epidemiological survey

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate epidemiological features of skin damage among front-line healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A self-designed questionnaire was released on an online survey website "wenjuan.com", and sent to the front-line medical staff caring for patients with confirmed COVID-19 in 6 infectious disease wards of the General Hospital of Central Theater Command of PLA via WeChat from March 10th to 20th, 2020. Then, the questionnaires were collected, a database was established, and statistical analysis was performed on the incidence, types and epidemiological characteristics of skin damage among the medical staff. Results: A total of about 550 medical staff were surveyed, 404 questionnaires were collected, of which 391 were valid, and 303 cases had skin damage. The survey showed that females, hand cleaning frequency >10 times per day, wearing three-level protective equipment for more than 6 hours per week were risk factors for skin damage, and frequent use of a hand cream could reduce skin problems. Among the respondents, the incidence of skin damage was significantly higher in the females (79.81%, 249/312) than in the males (38.35%, 54/79;χ2 = 4.741, P = 0.029), and higher in the groups with hand cleaning frequency of 10-20 times per day (79.73%, 118/148) and >20 times per day (85.71%, 84/98) than in the group with hand cleaning frequency of 1-10 times per day (69.66%, 101/145;χ2 = 9.330, P = 0.009). The incidence of skin damage was significantly lower in the group wearing protective equipment for 1-5 hours per week (64.04%, 73/114) than in the groups wearing protective equipment for 6-10 hours per week (81.48%, 66/81), 11-15 hours per week (95.24%, 20/21), 16-20 hours per week (81.82%, 36/44), 21-25 hours per week (86.49%, 32/37), and >25 hours per week (80.85%, 76/94;χ2 = 19.164, P = 0.002). Among the 391 respondents, the skin damage related to disinfection and protective equipment mainly manifested as dry skin (72.89%), desquamation (56.78%), skin pressure injury (54.48%), skin maceration (45.01%), and sensitive skin (33.50%);acne (27.11%) was the related skin disease with the highest incidence, followed by facial dermatitis (23.27%), eczematous dermatitis (21.48%), folliculitis (18.92%), dermatomycosis (11.00%), urticaria (9.21%), etc. Conclusion: There was a high incidence of skin damage related to protective equipment among the front-line healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19, and strengthening skin protection could markedly reduce the incidence of skin damage. Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.