Background: Dermatologists rely on visual findings; thus, teledermatology is uniquely compatible to providing dermatologic care. The use of mobile phones in a store-and-forward approach, where gathered data are sent to a distant health provider for later review, may be a potential bridge in seeking dermatologic care.
Objective: This study aimed to determine the agreement between face-to-face consultations and teledermatologic consultations through the store-and-forward approach using mobile phones and its accuracy compared to a histopathologic diagnosis.
Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional study of participants consecutively recruited from dermatology patients who presented with skin or mucosal complaint and without prior dermatologist consultation. Photographs were taken using a standard smartphone (iPhone 6s Plus), and a 4-mm skin punch biopsy was taken on each patient-the gold standard to which the study result was compared to. The photographs were sent to 3 consultant dermatologists using a store-and-forward approach, for independent diagnosis and treatment plan.
Results: A total of 60 patients were included, with a median age of 41 years. There was moderate-to-almost perfect agreement in terms of final diagnosis between the face-to-face dermatologic diagnosis and teledermatologic diagnoses. The third teledermatologist had the highest agreement with the clinical dermatologist in terms of final diagnosis (κ=0.84; P<.001). Among the 3 dermatologists, there was moderate-to-almost perfect agreement as well. Agreement between pairs of teledermatologists ranged from 0.45 to 0.84. The 3 teledermatologists had moderate-to-substantial agreement with the biopsy results, with the third teledermatologist having the highest accuracy (κ=0.77; P<.001). Overall, there was a moderate agreement in the diagnosis of patients across raters.
Conclusions: Teledermatology is a viable alternative to face-to-face consultations. Our results show moderate-to-substantial agreement in diagnoses from a face-to-face consultation and store-and-forward teledermatology.
Keywords: cross-sectional study; dermatologic care; dermatologists; dermatology; histopathological diagnosis; mobile phones; mucosal; skin; store-and-forward approach; teledermatology; telehealth; telemedicine; virtual consultation.
©Ivan Arni Caballero Preclaro, Zharlah Gulmatico-Flores, Elizabeth Amelia Velasco Tianco. Originally published in JMIR Dermatology (http://derma.jmir.org), 31.10.2022.