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Teledermatology (TD) is a branch of telemedicine focused on the evaluation of cutaneous lesions by dermatologists remotely, in order to avoid unnecessary in-person consults that could be otherwise resolved by this method, and to shorten the time required for prompt evaluation of cutaneous diseases.
This study aimed to create and validate a questionnaire to evaluate satisfaction with the use of TD among primary care pediatricians (PCPs) and to test the questionnaire in our health area before performing an intervention for the optimization of TD.
We first created a questionnaire based on previous publications. Then, an expert consultation was made before drafting the final version of the questionnaire. We tested it twice among pediatricians of different health areas, with a 1-month gap between both evaluations. Internal consistency, reproducibility, and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated. Finally, the validated questionnaire was tested among the PCPs of our health area, to analyze their responses.
We registered 38 questionnaire responses. In all, 30 (78.9%) PCPs actively used TD several times within a month or a year; none of them used TD daily. Technical and health care quality of TD was mostly considered as good or very good. TD was regarded as similar or even better than face-to-face evaluation for most PCPs, whereas 7.9% (3/38) of PCPs thought TD was worse than conventional consults. Most PCPs considered TD as an effective, self-learning, and trustable tool, and 10.5% (4/38) of them identified that pictures captured by mobile phones were a barrier for its use, as it affects patient privacy. Technical problems, absence of exclusive devices for image taking, and delayed answers are some other barriers for TD that need to be overcome. Nonetheless, all PCPs were satisfied with TD, and all of them reported they would continue or start to use this tool.
TD has demonstrated to be an efficient tool, as it reduces waiting time and costs for dermatology evaluation, and it increases satisfaction among professionals. With our proposed questionnaire, we validated that quality, usability, efficacy, and satisfaction related to TD in our health area had a positive consideration among PCPs in general, but there still are barriers to overcome.
None declared.
Questionnaire responses to evaluate quality, usefulness, limitations, and satisfaction with the use of teledermatology among primary care pediatricians.
Frequency of use of teledermatology by primary care pediatricians.