- 期刊
醫療工作人員乳膠過敏及暴露之調查研究－以某醫學中心為例
A Survey of Latex Sensitivity and Exposure in Hospital Employees
摘要
乳膠手套在醫療院所中使用非常普遍，且在感染防制上扮演相當重要角色，然而手套中乳膠成份卻可能讓工作人員產生過敏症狀;所以在使用時須加以注意。本研究選擇某醫學中心經常接觸乳膠手套之工作人員進行問卷調查，總樣本計418人，請其回憶過去一年中曾經發生疑似皮膚及眼鼻或呼吸過敏症狀者分別計193人（47%）及103人（25%）;過敏者症狀分佈以皮膚刺痛（87%）及鼻塞、流鼻水（74%）最多，其次為蕁麻疹、騷癢、眼精刺激、皮膚紅疹及咳嗽等。皮膚過敏者每日使用手套時數為5.2小時，高於無過敏者（4.5小時）;同樣情形也發生於眼鼻或呼吸過敏者，其每日暴露於乳膠手套使用環境之平均時數（6.7小時）高於無過敏者（5.5小時）。而在控制性別、年齡、工作年資、手套種類與職務類別等可能影響因素後，結果顯示乳膠暴露時間與過敏症狀具有統計顯著相關。本研究亦針對醫院手術室、護理及檢驗單位現場進行空氣中含乳膠澱粉採樣，測定濃度為2~18個/公升，顯示場所內工作人員確有防護之需要。
並列摘要
Latex gloves have been identified as a potential source of allergens in health-care workers. This study conducted a questionnaire among 418 employees who had used latex gloves at a hospital in Taiwan. Among them, 193 employees (47%) replied that they had experienced skin allergy symptom and 103 employees (25%) respiratory symptom. The highest rate of symptoms is skin irritation (87%) and rhinitis (74%), following as urticaria, itch, eye irritation, eczema and cough. As for the skin allergy group, the average time of using latex glove per day was 5.2 hours which was higher than the control group of 4.5 hours. Similar result was also found in the respiratory allergy group. then adjusting the relative factors such as sex, age, glove types and work category variables, the allergy was found to be significantly correlated with the frequency of wearing latex glove and exposure in the latex air environment (p＜0.05). In this study, air sampling was also conducted in OR room, nursing and medical examination rooms. As the result of starch particle was detected to be 2~18 particles per liter in the air. We concluded that protection strategy intervention is needed.