Web Site for Training Nonmedical Health-Care Workers to Identify Potentially Malignant Skin Lesions and for Teledermatology

Abstract

The development of a Web site to enable nonmedical health professionals to screen skin potentially malignant skin lesions is described. A nurse assistant and a dermatologist tested the Web site. An electronic clinical form was developed to allow a nurse assistant to send case reports and photographs for remote diagnosis by a dermatologist. The nurse assistant photographed the lesions of 92 patients who presented some kind of dermatological condition. The images were then sent for evaluation by the dermatologist followed by in person examination by the same physician. The diagnoses, which resulted from the examination in person and, in some cases, the biopsy results, were compared with the diagnostic impressions of the nurse assistant and with the diagnostic hypothesis of the dermatologist at a distance. The lesions were classified as either malignant or nonmalignant. Kappa statistics showed a high association between the suspected malignity and nonmalignity of the lesions between the dermatologist (p = 6.01× 10^-9) and the nurse assistant and between the diagnosis at distance and in person (p < 1.0 × 10^-14). The Web site allowed a nurse assistant to screen for potentially malignant skin lesions and, thus, proved to be appropriate for a large-scale test.