K Westerhoff1, W H McCarthy, S W Menzies. 1. Sydney Melanoma Unit, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Sydney, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Skin surface microscopy (oil epiluminescence microscopy, dermoscopy, dermatoscopy) has been shown to increase the diagnostic accuracy of melanoma. However, all studies to date have been in an expert setting. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether primary care physicians (PCP) (general practitioners) could improve their melanoma diagnosis using surface microscopy after a short education intervention. METHODS:Seventy-four practising PCP completed a pretest of 50 melanomas and 50 atypical non-melanoma pigmented skin lesions (PSL) containing matched clinical and surface microscopy photographs. PCP were randomized between a surface microscopy education intervention or control group, followed by an identical post-test. RESULTS: Following training there was a significant improvement in the post-test vs. pretest in both clinical melanoma diagnosis (62.7% vs. 54.6%; P = 0.007) and surface microscopy melanoma diagnosis (75.9% vs. 57.8%; P = 0.000007). No difference was found in the control group between the post-test vs. pretest clinical melanoma diagnosis (53.7% vs. 50.6%; P = 0.21) or the surface microscopy melanoma diagnosis (54.8% vs. 52.9%; P = 0.56). Following training there was a significant improvement in the diagnosis of melanoma using surface microscopy vs. clinical diagnosis (75.9% vs. 62.7%; P = 0.000007), which was absent in the control group (54.8% vs. 53.7%; P = 0.59). No significant difference was found in clinical vs. surface microscopy post-test results for non-melanoma PSL in either the intervention group or control group. Improvement in the sensitivity for the diagnosis of melanoma with surface microscopy was seen without a decrease in specificity; this indicated that the effect should occur without increasing the number of needless excisions. CONCLUSIONS: All PCP in countries where melanoma leads to significant mortality should be trained in skin surface microscopy.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Skin surface microscopy (oil epiluminescence microscopy, dermoscopy, dermatoscopy) has been shown to increase the diagnostic accuracy of melanoma. However, all studies to date have been in an expert setting. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether primary care physicians (PCP) (general practitioners) could improve their melanoma diagnosis using surface microscopy after a short education intervention. METHODS: Seventy-four practising PCP completed a pretest of 50 melanomas and 50 atypical non-melanoma pigmented skin lesions (PSL) containing matched clinical and surface microscopy photographs. PCP were randomized between a surface microscopy education intervention or control group, followed by an identical post-test. RESULTS: Following training there was a significant improvement in the post-test vs. pretest in both clinical melanoma diagnosis (62.7% vs. 54.6%; P = 0.007) and surface microscopy melanoma diagnosis (75.9% vs. 57.8%; P = 0.000007). No difference was found in the control group between the post-test vs. pretest clinical melanoma diagnosis (53.7% vs. 50.6%; P = 0.21) or the surface microscopy melanoma diagnosis (54.8% vs. 52.9%; P = 0.56). Following training there was a significant improvement in the diagnosis of melanoma using surface microscopy vs. clinical diagnosis (75.9% vs. 62.7%; P = 0.000007), which was absent in the control group (54.8% vs. 53.7%; P = 0.59). No significant difference was found in clinical vs. surface microscopy post-test results for non-melanoma PSL in either the intervention group or control group. Improvement in the sensitivity for the diagnosis of melanoma with surface microscopy was seen without a decrease in specificity; this indicated that the effect should occur without increasing the number of needless excisions. CONCLUSIONS: All PCP in countries where melanoma leads to significant mortality should be trained in skin surface microscopy.
Authors: T Rogers; M L Marino; S W Dusza; S Bajaj; R P Usatine; M A Marchetti; A A Marghoob Journal: J Am Board Fam Med Date: 2016-11-12 Impact factor: 2.657
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