TY - JOUR

T1 - Smartphone app to screen individuals with scabies symptoms

AU - Ali, Zarqa

AU - Bourlioux, Mélanie

AU - Thomsen, Simon Francis

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Patients with scabies are often misdiagnosed before being attended by a dermatologist. The aim of this study was to use a smartphone app to screen individuals from the general population with scabies symptoms. METHODS: Subjects who suspected that they had scabies were recruited online and downloaded a app tailored for this study. A questionnaire on symptoms was completed and photos of the skin were uploaded from within the app. Two physicians, a board-certified dermatologist and a resident dermatologist, evaluated the requests by categorising the scabies risk of each case, and categorisation triggered an auto-generated response describing the level of scabies and letting the participant know whether to contact a general practitioner or not. RESULTS: Within 15 days of advertisement, 228 requests were sent (71% women); mean age 24 years (standard deviation: ± 10.0). Itch was experienced by 90% (n = 208) and rash by 76% (n = 174). The rash was distributed bilaterally in 79% (n = 138). The areas of rash localisation were: arms (63%), hands (56%), legs (55%), abdomen (52%), inner thigh (45%), chest (26%), genitals (24%), head and neck (17%) and axilla (16%). 5% of all cases evaluated by either the senior or junior physician were evaluated as having a high risk of scabies. CONCLUSION: In a very short time, the app received a high number of requests from individuals worrying about scabies; 5% of the incoming requests were categorised as carrying a high risk of having scabies. Mobile apps are a helpful tool to screen for scabies in primary care settings.Omhu A/S. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Patients with scabies are often misdiagnosed before being attended by a dermatologist. The aim of this study was to use a smartphone app to screen individuals from the general population with scabies symptoms. METHODS: Subjects who suspected that they had scabies were recruited online and downloaded a app tailored for this study. A questionnaire on symptoms was completed and photos of the skin were uploaded from within the app. Two physicians, a board-certified dermatologist and a resident dermatologist, evaluated the requests by categorising the scabies risk of each case, and categorisation triggered an auto-generated response describing the level of scabies and letting the participant know whether to contact a general practitioner or not. RESULTS: Within 15 days of advertisement, 228 requests were sent (71% women); mean age 24 years (standard deviation: ± 10.0). Itch was experienced by 90% (n = 208) and rash by 76% (n = 174). The rash was distributed bilaterally in 79% (n = 138). The areas of rash localisation were: arms (63%), hands (56%), legs (55%), abdomen (52%), inner thigh (45%), chest (26%), genitals (24%), head and neck (17%) and axilla (16%). 5% of all cases evaluated by either the senior or junior physician were evaluated as having a high risk of scabies. CONCLUSION: In a very short time, the app received a high number of requests from individuals worrying about scabies; 5% of the incoming requests were categorised as carrying a high risk of having scabies. Mobile apps are a helpful tool to screen for scabies in primary care settings.Omhu A/S. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85168738045&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37622645

AN - SCOPUS:85168738045

VL - 70

SP - 7

EP - 8

JO - Ugeskrift for Laeger

JF - Ugeskrift for Laeger

SN - 0041-5782

IS - 9

M1 - A09220515

ER -