Mobile teledermatology in the developing world: implications of a feasibility study on 30 Egyptian patients with common skin diseases

Abstract

Background: The expansion of store-and-forward teledermatology into underserved regions of the world has long been hampered by the requirement for computers with Internet connectivity. To our knowledge, this study is one of the first to demonstrate the feasibility of teledermatology using newer-generation mobile telephones with specialized software and wireless connectivity to overcome this requirement in a developing country.

Objective: We sought to demonstrate that mobile telephones may be used on the African continent to submit both patient history and clinical photographs wirelessly to remote expert dermatologists, and to assess whether these data are diagnostically reliable.

Methods: Thirty patients with common skin diseases in Cairo, Egypt, were given a diagnosis by face-to-face consultation. They were then given a diagnosis independently by local senior dermatologists using teleconsultation with a software-enabled mobile telephone containing a 5-megapixel camera. Diagnostic concordance rates between face-to-face and teleconsultation were tabulated.

Results: Diagnostic agreement between face-to-face consultation and the two local senior dermatologists performing independent evaluation by teleconsultation was achieved in 23 of 30 (77%) and in 22 of 30 (73%) cases, respectively, with a global mean of 75%.

Limitations: Limited sample size and interobserver variability are limitations.

Conclusion: Mobile teledermatology is a technically feasible and diagnostically reliable method of amplifying access to dermatologic expertise in poorer regions of the globe where access to computers with Internet connectivity is unreliable or insufficient.