General practitioners' accuracy in diagnosing skin cancers.
BACKGROUND
The incidence of both melanoma and nonmelanocytic skin cancers has risen dramatically during the past decades, skin cancer becoming an important public health concern.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of general practitioners (GPs) in the early diagnosis of skin cancers, their correct differential diagnosis of benign lesions and their accuracy in the choice of the treatment.


METHODS
A multiple-choice questionnaire regarding 7 cases (with 4 figures) were sent to 625 GPs to evaluate their diagnostic abilities.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that many GPs are not confident in their ability to recognize the most common skin cancers, and knowledge deficiencies were identified.
Offidani
Annamaria
A
Dermatological Clinic, University of Ancona, Italy.
Simonetti
Oriana
O
Bernardini
Maria Luisa
ML
Alpagut
Ayhan
A
Cellini
Andreina
A
Bossi
Guido
G
D000328:Adult; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D017492:Keratosis, Seborrheic / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009508:Nevus, Pigmented / Q000175:diagnosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires