Task Sharing for Diagnosis and Management of Dermatophytosis and Scabies in Periurban Community of Chandigarh.

BACKGROUND

Nurses can play a significant role to provide care to millions of patients with dermatophytosis and scabies. Thus, the study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of task sharing with nurses for the diagnosis of dermatophytosis and scabies.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

An interventional trial was conducted in two periurban communities of Chandigarh which were randomized to experimental and control groups. Survey Performa was used to identify patients already diagnosed with dermatophytosis and scabies. However, teleconsultation with the dermatologist was done for patients presenting with signs and symptoms for the confirmation of diagnosis. Nurse led intervention which included health education and counselling about prevention and management of dermatophytosis and scabies, i.e., its signs and symptoms, medication adherence, lifestyle modification, hygiene practices, application of medicine to treat scabies was given to intervention group participants with the help of booklet and flash cards. The control group received usual care. Endline assessment was done at 8 week to assess the effect of intervention on medication adherence, quality of life, and self-reported cure rates. The trial was also registered under the Clinical Trials Registry-India with the CTRI no. CTRI/2022/07/043856.

RESULTS

The results revealed significant difference in the medication adherence among participants in experimental (20.51 ± 09.04) and control groups (28.56 ± 9.46) at the endline assessment. The mean score of quality of life (13.16 ± 7.30) was significantly lower than in experimental and control groups (18.83 ± 7.30) indicating better quality of life. There was significant difference in the self-reported cure rate among experimental and control group.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that task sharing was effective in improving quality of life, medication adherence, hygiene practices, and self-reported cure rate among patients with dermatophytosis and scabies.