Time required for a complete skin examination with and without dermoscopy: a prospective, randomized multicenter study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the time required to perform a complete skin examination (CSE) as a means of opportunistic screening for skin cancer both without and with dermoscopy.


METHODS
Randomized, prospective multicenter study.


METHODS
Eight referral pigmented lesion clinics. Patients From June 2006 to January 2007, 1359 patients with at least 1 melanocytic or nonmelanocytic skin lesion were randomly selected to receive a CSE without dermoscopy or CSE with dermoscopy. For each patient, the total number of lesions and the duration of the CSE were recorded. A total of 1328 patients were eligible for analysis (31 were excluded because of missing data).


METHODS
The median time (measured in seconds) needed for CSE with and without dermoscopy and according to total cutaneous lesion count.


RESULTS
The median time needed for CSE without dermoscopy was 70 seconds and with dermoscopy was 142 seconds, a significant difference of 72 seconds (P < .001). The use of dermoscopy increased the duration of CSE, and this increase was in direct proportion to the patient's total lesion count. In contrast, the time required to perform a CSE without dermoscopy remained the same irrespective of whether the patients had few or many lesions.


CONCLUSIONS
A CSE aided by dermoscopy takes significantly longer than a CSE without dermoscopy. However, a thorough CSE, with or without dermoscopy, requires less than 3 minutes, which is a reasonable amount of added time to potentially prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with skin cancer.
Zalaudek
Iris
I
Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 8, 8036 Graz, Austria. iris.zalaudek@meduni-graz.at
Kittler
Harald
H
Marghoob
Ashfaq A
AA
Balato
Anna
A
Blum
Andreas
A
Dalle
Stéphane
S
Ferrara
Gerardo
G
Fink-Puches
Regina
R
Giorgio
Caterina M
CM
Hofmann-Wellenhof
Rainer
R
Malvehy
Josep
J
Moscarella
Elvira
E
Puig
Susana
S
Scalvenzi
Massimiliano
M
Thomas
Luc
L
Argenziano
Giuseppe
G
D000328:Adult; D046169:Dermoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D013996:Time and Motion Studies