32301 A cross sectional study on hand manifestations during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many new habits became the new normal among us such as social distancing, wearing a mask, and hand hygiene. It is noticed that there is an increase in skin complaints among health care providers and the general population. So, we hereby undertook a study to look for the incidence of skin complaints on hand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Responses from 454 people were collected which included doctors, nurses, and the general population through an online questionnaire. Results: Out of 454 people, 230 (50.7%) are males, 220 (48.5%) females and 4 (0.9%) preferred not to reveal their sex. 356 (78.4%) were associated with the medical field, and 98 (21.6%) were others. 336 (74%) of them use hand gloves and 118 (26%) of them did not use hand gloves. The average time of wearing a glove is 5 hours a day for 20 days a month. The average use of sanitizers is 15 times a day per person. On average, a person washed their hands 7-8 times a day with soap. Of the 454 people 278 (61.2%) people have hand complaints and 176 (38.8%) people did not have any complaints. The most common complaints are dryness (71.6%) and peeling of the skin (69.3%). Burning (28.4%), itching (20.5%), fluid-filled lesions (2.3%), papules (2.3%) and oozing (2.3%) were among other complaints. 70 (15.4%) people had aggravation of already existing skin complaints. Conclusion: Due to frequent hand hygiene methods, the skin barrier function is disrupted, leading to hand dermatitis. Although hygiene is a crucial preventive measure in this pandemic, maintaining skin integrity is also important.