Actinic Keratoses
Conditions
Keywords
General Practitioners guidelines, actinic keratosis, general physician, dermatology, low-risk patients, referrals
Brief summary
This study evaluates the implementation of the General Practitioners guidelines 'Suspicious Skin Lesions' and investigated whether their publication and implementation has led to a reduction in the proportion of referrals of low-risk patients with actinic keratosis to secondary care, after publication of the General Practitioners guidelines and implementation activities.
Detailed description
In the Dutch healthcare system, patients are first examined by the general practitioner who decides whether a referral to a dermatologist is indicated. Both general practitioners and dermatologists can diagnose and treat patients with actinic keratosis. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish which patients the general practitioner should refer to a dermatologist and which patients are suitable to be treated by the general practitioner. This retrospective data study evaluates the proportion of low risk actinic keratosis patients in 2019 en 2018.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Tergooi Hospital
Maastricht University Medical Center
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
RETROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* patients of 18 years and older * referred to dermatologist for suspicion of actinic keratosis and diagnosed as actinic keratosis by the dermatologist * treated at MaastrichtUMC+ or TergooiHospital
Exclusion criteria
* different diagnosis than actinic keratosis * referred by a different specialist than the general practitioner * referred with multiple problems * referred for a second opinion * if the patients was treated as different diagnosis than actinic keratosis by general practitioner
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in proportion of low-risk actinic keratosis patients among all actinic keratosis patients. | 2018 compared to 2019 (2 years) | The change in proportion of low-risk actinic keratosis patients among all actinic keratosis patients referred by the general practitioner to the dermatologist. The definition of low-risk actinic keratosis patients was based on the General Practitioners guidelines 'Suspicious skin lesions' (published in 2017). Patients were defined as low-risk when they were not immunocompromised, did not have a cutaneous malignancy in their medical history, did not have previous treatment or if they did not have extensive lesions. |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed