Environmental health in the prevention of mesopathies: occupational dermatoses

Abstract

Work-related skin diseases, occupational dermatoses (OD), can be defined as: alteration of mucous membranes, skin and its attachments, directly or indirectly, related to agents present in the activity or work environment. OD can be categorized into two major groups: dermatitis and dermatoses. It is an occupational disease (mesopathy) since they are acquired due to special conditions in which the work is performed. Thus, it is of fundamental importance to recognize the role of work and the forms of protection/prevention to be adopted to provide health actions for this segment of the population. In Brazil, notification of the event with the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) is the main way to generate information for health surveillance actions at work. In order to highlight the importance of protection measures related to OD, a survey of cases was carried out at SINAN between 2014 and 2018 for the collection of sociodemographic and professional data. An average of 36 cases of OD were reported per year. Most of the workers were male (51.40%), race/color white (40.78%) between 25 and 39 years of age (43.02%) and with registered employment (formal contract) (71.51%). Regarding occupations, the most affected functions were: janitor (11.17%) and bricklayer (8.94%). Separating the cases according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), there were more dermatitis (64.25%) than dermatoses (6.71%). Of the dermatitis cases, 27.93% were due to allergic contact dermatitis. When the notification unit was studied, 68.72% of the OD were reported by the Reference Centers in Occupational Health (Cerest). The importance of structuring and implementing a line of care that includes quality care is highlighted, but, above all, acting in the area of prevention and health promotion is essential.