Glove-related skin symptoms among operating theatre and dental care unit personnel (I). Interview investigation.

233 employees in hospital and dental care participated in an interview investigation on glove-related skin complaints. 37% (87/233) reported skin symptoms related to glove use. 2% (4/233) reported localized contact urticaria provoked by latex gloves, 10% (23/233) hand eczema and 24% (56/233) unclassifiable skin intolerance reactions from gloves. Another 2% (4/233) reported facial irritation from gloves. Glove-related skin symptoms were thus reported by more than 1/3 of the personnel and the reported glove-provoked contact urticaria constituted 5% (4/87) of the intolerance reactions.