Emergency Use and Efficacy of an Asynchronous Teledermatology System as a Novel Tool for Early Diagnosis of Skin Cancer during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic

Antal Jobbágy, Norbert Kiss, Fanni Adél Meznerics, Klára Farkas, Dóra Plázár, Szabolcs Bozsányi, Luca Fésűs, Áron Bartha, Endre Szabó, Kende Lőrincz, Miklós Sárdy, Norbert Miklós Wikonkál, Péter Szoldán and András Bánvölgyi
Additional contact information
Antal Jobbágy: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Norbert Kiss: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Fanni Adél Meznerics: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Klára Farkas: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Dóra Plázár: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Szabolcs Bozsányi: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Luca Fésűs: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Áron Bartha: Department of Bioinformatics, Semmelweis University, 1094 Budapest, Hungary
Endre Szabó: Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, 1053 Budapest, Hungary
Kende Lőrincz: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Miklós Sárdy: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Norbert Miklós Wikonkál: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Péter Szoldán: MedInnoScan Research and Development Ltd., 1112 Budapest, Hungary
András Bánvölgyi: Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Background: After the outbreak of the corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, teledermatology was implemented in the Hungarian public healthcare system for the first time. Our objective was to assess aggregated diagnostic agreements and to determine the effectiveness of an asynchronous teledermatology system for skin cancer screening. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included cases submitted for teledermatology consultation during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow-up of the patients was performed to collect the results of any subsequent personal examination. Results: 749 patients with 779 lesions were involved. 15 malignant melanomas (9.9%), 78 basal cell carcinomas (51.3%), 21 squamous cell carcinomas (13.8%), 7 other malignancies (4.6%) and 31 actinic keratoses (20.4%) were confirmed. 87 malignancies were diagnosed in the high-urgency group (42.2%), 49 malignancies in the moderate-urgency group (21.6%) and 16 malignancies in the low-urgency group (4.6%) ( p < 0.0001). Agreement of malignancies was substantial for primary (86.3%; κ = 0.647) and aggregated diagnoses (85.3%; κ = 0.644). Agreement of total lesions was also substantial for primary (81.2%; κ = 0.769) and aggregated diagnoses (87.9%; κ = 0.754). Conclusions: Our findings showed that asynchronous teledermatology using a mobile phone application served as an accurate skin cancer screening system during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: teledermatology; telemedicine; telehealth; COVID-19; skin cancer; melanoma; skin cancer screening; store-and-forward; diagnostic concordance; accuracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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