Study of diagnostic predictability of dermoscopy over clinical diagnosis in common clinically-diagnosable outpatient dermatological diseases
dermoscopy vs clinical diagnosis in common clinically diagnosable dermatoses
Keywords:
Dermoscopy, Clinical diagnosis, Common dermatosesAbstract
Objective The purpose of this study was to study the role of dermoscopy in augmenting the diagnosis of various common dermatoses. Methods Six clinicians with different levels of expertise (< one year or inexperienced, 1-5 years or moderately experienced, >5 years or expert) were administered questionnaires in form of clinical and dermoscopic images (with or without history), of common dermatoses. The questionnaires were divided into 5 categories: clinical image (CI), dermoscopic image (DI), clinical image with history (CIH), dermoscopic image with history (DIH) and clinical image, dermoscopic image with history (CDH). The correct responses in each of the sections were analyzed with respect to the diseases and the level of expertise. Results The comparison of correct responses with respect to expertise revealed that the responses of expert, moderately experienced and inexperienced clinicians were 100%, 95.1% and 49.1% respectively which was statistically significant. The percentage of correct responses was higher with clinical images as compared to dermoscopic image. The addition of dermoscopy to clinical image and history (CIH) increased the percentage of correct responses only marginally by 3.03%. Comparison of correct responses with respect to various dermatoses showed that DI when used for diagnosis fared poorly when compared with CI though it was not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion Dermoscopy is an useful tool in dermatological diagnosis which is evolving in terms of its application and user adaptability. The study showed that Clinical examination and history taking is still invaluable and can suffice for the diagnosis of many common dermatological conditions and dermoscopy does not significantly augment the clinical diagnosis in common dermatological conditions.References
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