Journal article
Melanoma Detected Through Teledermatology Versus In-Person Visits
TELEMEDICINE AND E-HEALTH
17 Oct 2023
PMID: 37937942
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background: Early detection of melanoma improves survival; however, patients face long wait times to receive dermatology care. Teledermatology (TD) is a promising tool to optimize access to care and has shown promise for the identification of malignancies but has not been well studied for melanoma. We evaluated the utility of TD as a triage tool to allow high-risk lesions of concern to be seen more expeditiously.Methods: Patient sociodemographic factors and histological characteristics of 836 melanomas biopsied between March 2020 and November 2022 in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center health system were retrospectively evaluated, stratified by initial appointment type of TD versus in-person visit.Results: Patients first seeking care through teledermatology had shorter wait times to initial evaluation (p < 0.001) and eventual biopsy (p < 0.001), and these melanomas had higher Breslow thickness (p < 0.001), were more ulcerated (p = 0.002), invasive (p = 0.001), and of a more aggressive subtype (p = 0.007) than those initially evaluated in-person. TD was also utilized by a higher proportion of younger (p = 0.001) and non-white (p = 0.03) patients who identified their own lesion (p < 0.001).Conclusions: TD may be a strategy to improve melanoma outcomes by providing an accessible avenue of expedited care for high-risk lesions associated with worse clinical prognosticators of disease.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Melanoma Detected Through Teledermatology Versus In-Person Visits
- Publication Details
- TELEMEDICINE AND E-HEALTH
- Publisher
- MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC; NEW ROCHELLE
- Grant note
- The authors would like to thank Li Wang, MS, and the Pitt Clinical and Translational Science Institute for statistical support.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001138178700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85176275509
- Other Identifier
- 991021861206304721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Health Care Sciences & Services