Does visual display terminal work provoke rosacea?

Abstract

According to some reports, mainly from Norway, visual display terminal (VDT) work has been thought to cause rashes. In conjunction with an epidemiological study of office employees and VDT work, a dermatological examination was made. No case demonstrated the clinical picture described from Norway among VDT operators, but subjects with rosacea, seborrhoeic dermatitis and acne were over-represented in the VDT-exposed group. The object of the present study was to see whether patients with rosacea experienced aggravation of their symptoms as a result of VDT work and whether they showed a particular clinical picture. All subjects fit for work among the patients diagnosed as rosacea or perioral dermatitis during 1982 were selected for the study. The methods included a questionnaire on VDT work and suspected impairment of the skin disease, clinical examination and telephone interviews. 179 subjects were selected; 42 of them worked daily with VDT and 8 of them suspected impairment due to VDT work. The results imply that a relationship may exist between rosacea and VDT work. To what factor in the work this may be ascribed is still unclear. Those subjects whose symptoms were aggravated did not show any particular clinical picture.