Abstract
Although the prevalence of atopic dermatitis is high in nurses, there is a lack of research on the relationship between atopic dermatitis and depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among female nurses. This study aimed to determine the effects of atopic dermatitis on depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance in female nurses. We analyzed the data of the Korea Nurses’ Health Study, a large-scale prospective cohort study. A total of 20,613 female hospital nurses aged 20–45 years who participated in the Module 1 of Korea Nurses’ Health Study between July 2013 and November 2014 were included. The chi-square test, t-test, and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis were conducted for statistical analysis. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis among female nurses was 11.6%. The levels of depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance were higher in nurses with atopic dermatitis than those without atopic dermatitis. Nurses with atopic dermatitis were 1.16 times more likely to have depressive symptoms and 1.35 times more likely to have sleep disturbance than those without atopic dermatitis after adjusting for confounding variables. The results of this study suggest that additional support should be considered for nurses with atopic dermatitis to improve the occupational environment for managing and preventing the exacerbation of symptoms.
Highlights
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex chronic inflammatory skin disease caused by interactions between genetic, immune, and environmental factors, that shows a wide range of clinical symptoms and significantly affects quality of life by increasing the burden of self-care on patients [1]
Of the sample, which was higher than the 73.2% in the no AD group, and the participants diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, asthma, and psoriasis in the AD group accounted for 34.9%, 5.1%, and 8.6%, respectively, indicating that a higher proportion of participants in the AD group had comorbidities
This study showed that the AD prevalence of Korean female nurses was 11.6% and confirmed that the levels of depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance were higher among female nurses with AD than those without AD
Summary
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex chronic inflammatory skin disease caused by interactions between genetic, immune, and environmental factors, that shows a wide range of clinical symptoms and significantly affects quality of life by increasing the burden of self-care on patients [1]. AD has a significantly higher prevalence among females (9.3–10%). Than males [5,6], and the Nurses’ Health Study 2 (NHS2), which analyzed nurse health in the United. States, reported that the prevalence of AD among female nurses was 10.1%, higher than that among all adults [7]. The treatment of AD requires care related to the enhancement and treatment of skin conditions, and attention to, and consideration of, such psychological and physiological factors
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