Thomas Lauren, Felmingham Claire, Tilakaratne Dev
Dermatology Department, Royal Darwin Hospital, Casuarina, Australia.
Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Australas J Dermatol. 2021 May;62(2):195-198. doi: 10.1111/ajd.13548. Epub 2021 Mar 17.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of research available regarding the epidemiology of patients attending dermatology outpatient services in Australia. Our objective was to analyse who was attending public dermatology outpatient clinics in a Northern Territory tertiary hospital, with a particular focus on Indigenous and rural patients.
This is a retrospective cohort study of patients who attended dermatology outpatient clinics between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016. Outcome measures included patient demographics (age, gender, ethnicity and postcode) and referrer details.
Over the 12 month study period, 923 appointments were scheduled for 500 patients. Of the appointments scheduled, 667 were attended. Twelve per cent of patients were Indigenous, and of the total appointment attendances, 10% were by Indigenous patients. Of the 923 appointments, 28% were not attended, with a higher non-attendance rate for Indigenous patients at 36%. The majority of patients seen were adults, for both groups, but a larger proportion of Indigenous children were seen. Nine per cent of patients with a recorded address were from a remote region.
Dermatology outpatient services are likely under-utilised by Indigenous, and remote patients. If we are to improve skin health in Australia, barriers such as limited access to dermatological services in remote regions must be addressed.
背景/目的：关于澳大利亚皮肤科门诊患者的流行病学研究较少。我们的目的是分析北领地一家三级医院公立皮肤科门诊的就诊患者情况，特别关注原住民和农村患者。
这是一项对2016年1月1日至2016年12月31日期间到皮肤科门诊就诊患者的回顾性队列研究。观察指标包括患者人口统计学特征（年龄、性别、种族和邮政编码）以及转诊者详细信息。
在为期12个月的研究期间，为500名患者安排了923次预约。在已安排的预约中，667次得到就诊。12%的患者为原住民，在总的就诊预约中，原住民患者占10%。在923次预约中，28%未就诊，原住民患者的未就诊率更高，为36%。两组中大多数就诊患者为成年人，但就诊的原住民儿童比例更高。有记录地址的患者中9%来自偏远地区。
原住民和偏远地区患者可能未充分利用皮肤科门诊服务。如果我们要改善澳大利亚的皮肤健康状况，就必须解决偏远地区皮肤科服务获取受限等障碍。
