[Clinical aspects, epidemiology and economic impact of foot epidermomycosis in an industrial milieu].

Fungal infections of the feet are very common in some professions. This has been particularly studied in coal mine workers up to 50 p. 100 of whom were found to have dermatophytosis of the feet. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical, epidemiological and evolutive characteristics of interdigital and plantar intertrigo of the feet among people working in a coking plant, a potash mine and a motorcar factory. We have also evaluated the cost of treatments in relation to their immediate effectiveness and their preventive effects on relapses. Initially, 208 workers entered the study: 84 (40.7 p. 100) had a mycotic infection (M) and 124 (59.3 p. 100) presented with a non-mycotic (NM) inflammation between the toes and on the soles, characterized by maceration of the skin, hyperhidrosis and bromhidrosis. Change in the lesions under treatment were subjected to statistical analysis. In both M and NM groups the workers were allocated by randomization to a double-blind treatment consisting of: group M: either 2 p. 100 miconazole powder or talcum powder with 2 p. 100 salicylic acid and boric acid; group NM: either 2 p. 100 miconazole powder or ordinary talcum powder. Each subject was seen on at least two occasions after 3 and 12 months of daily foot care and topical treatment. Mycological examinations in group M subjects showed that fungal infections of the feet were primarily due to Trichophyton mentagrophytes or to Trichophyton rubrum. A logistic regression analysis (BMDPLR program) of anamnestic and clinical data (table IV) led to a "mathematical model of the mycotic foot", characterized by 6 main parameters of statistically significant occurrence: a history of interdigital-plantar intertrigo, recurrent in 90 p. 100 of subjects in group M (significant association at 0.1 p. 100); a functional symptom, pruritus, present in 71 p. 100 of subjects with mycosis; the stronger, more disturbing the pruritus, the greater the probability of it being of fungal origin (significant association at 0.1 p. 100); 4 physical signs: lack of maceration (0.1 p. 100), lesions limited to the interdigital spaces and respecting the soles (0.1 p. 100), presence of interdigital fissures (0.5 p. 100) and vesiculation (2.5 p. 100). When the respective diagnostic values of these elementary symptoms were considered, it appeared that their various combinations might have predictive values which could be calculated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)