1 Department of Dermatology, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires , Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina .
2 Department of Dermatology, Hospital Eva Perón , Gral San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina .
Telemed J E Health. 2019 Apr;25(4):294-300. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2018.0059. Epub 2018 Jun 20.
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects around 100 million people worldwide. The burden of disease is high, but more recent therapies show promising results. Clinicians need, however, more training in the use of such therapies.
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is structured around the promise of delivering medical education at a distance, empowering clinicians who operate in remote areas. The use of instant messaging services, such as WhatsApp Messenger, has the potential to improve on the existing framework and bridge the existing gap of knowledge. This article reports on a study concerning the implementation of a WhatsApp discussion group in Project ECHO Psoriasis in Argentina.
One hundred thirty-two dermatologists in Argentina were invited to participate in the WhatsApp discussion group. After 1 year of participation, a follow-up questionnaire was used to assess the effectiveness of the project.
Eighty dermatologists participated. All questions placed in the discussion were answered by a psoriasis specialist, 79% of which were answered within the first 5 min. Clinicians report significant improvement in diagnosis, comorbidities, and treatment with both conventional and biological therapies.
Preliminary results are promising. This new cost-effective solution builds on the existing Project ECHO Psoriasis in Argentina and shows potential in bridging the gap of knowledge, promoting better clinical decisions through empowerment of medical doctors operating in remote locations.
Further research is needed to increase generalization of the results. Moreover, it would be interesting to match the data from the discussion group with follow-up questionnaires.
银屑病是一种影响全球约 1 亿人的慢性炎症性疾病。疾病负担很高，但最近的治疗方法显示出有希望的结果。然而，临床医生需要更多关于使用这些治疗方法的培训。
ECHO 项目（Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes）围绕着远程提供医学教育的承诺构建，使在偏远地区工作的临床医生能够获得授权。即时通讯服务（如 WhatsApp Messenger）的使用有可能改进现有的框架并弥合现有的知识差距。本文报告了在阿根廷 ECHO 银屑病项目中实施 WhatsApp 讨论组的研究。
邀请了 132 名阿根廷皮肤科医生参加 WhatsApp 讨论组。参与一年后，使用后续问卷评估项目的效果。
8 名皮肤科医生参与。在讨论中提出的所有问题都由一位银屑病专家回答，其中 79%的问题在头 5 分钟内得到回答。临床医生报告在诊断、合并症和常规及生物治疗方面都有显著改善。
初步结果是有希望的。这种新的具有成本效益的解决方案建立在阿根廷现有的 ECHO 银屑病项目的基础上，具有通过授权在偏远地区工作的医生来弥合知识差距、促进更好的临床决策的潜力。
需要进一步研究以扩大结果的普遍性。此外，将讨论组的数据与随访问卷进行匹配将很有趣。
