A comparison of skin disease among nursing-home health care workers in Japan and Korea

Skin disease represents one of the most common workplace disorders within developed countries [1]. Health care
workers (HCW) are a particularly vulnerable occupational group due to their regular exposure to wide variety of contact
irritants (including water). Health care related wet-work activities such as cleaning patients and repeated hand washing
are an important source of skin trauma, and tasks that may eventually lead to occupational skin disease [1,2]. As nursing
home patients are heavily dependent on staff for many activities of daily living, providing this assistance on a daily
basis increases the likelihood of irritant exposure. Recent advances in public health have dramatically increased the
proportion of elderly citizens worldwide [3]. In Asia, nursing homes are becoming an increasingly attractive option as
traditional notions of extended family care decline [4]. Over the past 30 years, nursing home numbers have increased
significantly throughout the region to meet this demand [5]. Despite the widespread proliferation of palliative care
facilities, occupational skin disease studies within nursing homes are still comparatively rare [6]. To address this
shortfall and evaluate the need for larger cohort studies, we considered it necessary to conduct some preliminary
epidemiologic research. As Japanese and Korean HCW share many common physiological characteristics, it was also
considered worthwhile to investigate whether there were any significant differences in skin disease rates between the
two groups.