ABSTRACT
Understanding patient non-adherence to prescribed antibiotics can inform clinical practices, patient counseling, and antibiotic efficacy study design in dermatology. The primary objective was to determine the rate of and reasons for antibiotic non-adherence in the dermatologic surgery setting. The secondary objective was to test the applicability of previously studied survey questions for antibiotic non-adherence screening in the dermatologic surgery setting. Five academic outpatient dermatologic surgery centers across the United States conducted one multicenter prospective cohort study. Dermatologic surgery patients ≥ 18 years of age who were prescribed an antibiotic were included as part of this study. 15.2% (42/276) of patients did not adhere to their antibiotic regimen after dermatologic surgery. Most common reasons for incomplete antibiotic courses included forgotten antibiotics (42.9%,18/42) and side effects (28.6%, 12/42). Previously evaluated questions to identify and predict non-adherence had modest performance in the dermatologic surgery setting (Area under the curve of 0.669 [95% CI (0.583-0.754)]). Antibiotic non-adherence after skin surgery is prevalent and commonly due to reasons that physicians can address with patients.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents , Medication Adherence , Humans , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Anti-Bacterial Agents/administration & dosage , Prospective Studies , Female , Middle Aged , Male , Medication Adherence/statistics & numerical data , Aged , Dermatologic Surgical Procedures/adverse effects , Surgical Wound Infection/prevention & control , Surgical Wound Infection/epidemiology , Adult , United States , Surveys and Questionnaires/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is highly prevalent in the United States, with darker-skinned patients (DSP) exhibiting lower incidence but increased morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to elucidate NMSC disparities between DSP (Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV or more) and lighter-skinned patients (LSP, Fitzpatrick skin phototype III or less), focusing on surgical features of non-Mohs micrographic surgery-treated NMSC. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included LSP and DSP diagnosed with either basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in an academic dermatology setting. Variables collected included age, gender, type of NMSC, location, staging, time-to-diagnosis (TTD), pre-operative lesion size, and post-operative defect size. Categorical variables were reported as counts and percentages, while the association between categorical variables was assessed using a two-tailed Fisher's test. A paired t-test was used to determine the association between continuous variables. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 27 patients with NMSC were identified, of which 9 (33.3%) were DSP. Patients of darker skin were predominantly female (n=7; 77.8%), while no gender predilection was found in LSP (n=9; 50.0% female; p=0.23). Time-to-diagnosis was significantly longer in DSP than in LSP (61.3 weeks vs 25.1 weeks, respectively; p = 0.02). Despite this, there was no statistical difference in terms of staging, pre-operative lesion size (11.89 mm in DSP vs 10.76 mm in LSP, p=0.75), and post-operative defect size (45.56 ± 29.21 mm in DSP vs 31.22 ± 19.60 mm in LSP; p=0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Darker-skinned patients had a longer TTD without staging differences. Our study confirms the need for reducing TTDs for NMSC in DSP. Action initiatives include continued educational efforts to increase awareness of NMSC risk in DSP and more rigorous routine skin cancer screening.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Among patients undergoing two-stage interpolated flap repair of nasal defects, nasal function, and appearance before surgery and at 16 weeks after flap takedown were compared using the Nasal Appearance and Function Evaluation Questionnaire (NAFEQ). Design: Multicenter prospective cohort study. Methods: Adult patients with a nasal skin cancer anticipated to require two-stage interpolation flap repair completed the NAFEQ before surgery, at 1 week after flap placement, 4 weeks after flap takedown, and 16 weeks after flap takedown. Results: One hundred sixty-nine patients were enrolled, with 138 patients completing both presurgical and 16-week post-takedown NAFEQs. Overall NAFEQ score increased by 1.09 points (1.91% improvement, confidence interval [95% CI -0.34 to 2.53]). NAFEQ functional subscale increased by 0.72 points (2.58% increase; 95% CI [0.10-1.35]) and appearance subscale increased by 0.37 points (1.28% improvement, 95% CI [-0.65 to 1.39]). Conclusion: At 16 weeks after flap takedown, patients' perceptions of their nasal function and appearance are similar to or slightly improved when compared with their presurgical assessments.
