Abeck Finn, Kött Julian, Bertlich Mattis, Wiesenhütter Isabell, Schröder Florian, Hansen Inga, Schneider Stefan W, von Büren Johannes
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Telemed J E Health. 2023 Oct;29(10):1484-1491. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2022.0472. Epub 2023 Mar 2.
Background:There is a high demand for dermatological care in Germany. As use of teledermatology has increased significantly, this study aimed to investigate the impact of teledermatology on patient care.
Methods:This retrospective cross-sectional study used data from a direct-to-consumer teledermatology platform using store-and-forward technology available in Germany between July 2021 and April 2022. Additional patient characteristics were collected using a voluntary follow-up questionnaire, 28 days after teleconsultation.
Results:Data of 1,999 enrolled patients were evaluated. Patients had a mean age of 36 years, and 61.2% (1,223/1,999) lived in a rural residence. The most common diagnoses included eczema (36.0%, 701/1,946), fungal diseases (15.4%, 299/1,946), and acne (12.5%, 243/1,946). The follow-up questionnaire was answered by 166 patients (8.3%, 166/1,999). In total, 42.8% (71/166) of patients had undergone no previous medical consultation. The most frequent reason for using teledermatology was the waiting time for a dermatology outpatient appointment (62.0%, 103/166). A total of 62.0% (103/166) participants rated the treatment success as good or very good, while 86.1% (143/166) rated the quality of telemedical care as equal or better to that of an outpatient visit.
Conclusion:This study showed that patients often use teledermatology because of functional barriers (waiting times). In this cohort, the diagnoses strongly corresponded to reasons for outpatient presentation. Most patients rated the quality of teledermatology service as at least equivalent to that of outpatient physician visits and reported treatment success. Thus, teledermatology can relieve the burden of outpatient care while providing high benefits from the patient's perspective.
德国对皮肤科护理的需求很高。随着远程皮肤病学的使用显著增加，本研究旨在调查远程皮肤病学对患者护理的影响。
这项回顾性横断面研究使用了2021年7月至2022年4月间德国一个采用存储转发技术的面向消费者的远程皮肤病学平台的数据。在远程会诊28天后，通过一份自愿随访问卷收集了患者的其他特征。
对1999名登记患者的数据进行了评估。患者的平均年龄为36岁，61.2%（1223/1999）居住在农村地区。最常见的诊断包括湿疹（36.0%，701/1946）、真菌病（15.4%，299/1946）和痤疮（12.5%，243/1946）。166名患者（8.3%，166/1999）回答了随访问卷。总体而言，42.8%（71/166）的患者此前未进行过任何医疗咨询。使用远程皮肤病学最常见的原因是皮肤科门诊预约的等待时间（62.0%，103/166）。共有62.0%（103/166）的参与者将治疗效果评为良好或非常好，而86.1%（143/166）的参与者将远程医疗护理质量评为与门诊就诊相当或更好。
本研究表明，患者经常因功能障碍（等待时间）而使用远程皮肤病学。在这个队列中，诊断与门诊就诊原因高度相符。大多数患者将远程皮肤病学服务质量评为至少与门诊医生就诊相当，并报告了治疗成功。因此，从患者角度来看，远程皮肤病学可以减轻门诊护理负担，同时带来高收益。
