A study on clinicodemographical profile of patients availing the teledermatology service at a tertiary care center in Northeast India

Objectives: Delivery of patient care services has drastically evolved where teledermatology specifically has brought about a paradigm shift in our day-to-day practice and has been increasingly utilized since the pandemic era. Keeping this in mind, we conducted a study to evaluate the clinical and demographical profile of patients availing teledermatology service in a tertiary care center in North East India. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study where the database of patients utilizing the teledermatology facility was analyzed for a period of one year (January 2022–March 2023). Results: A total of 74 patients were included in the study, and the data was analyzed based on the store and forward approach. There was a female preponderance with a male: female ratio of 1:2.5. Most of the patients (88%) hailed from an urban background. The highest frequency of users for this service were those aged between 20 and 30 years (35%). The median age was 24 years. The pediatric population comprised 4% of the cases. The diagnosis was possible for 61 (82.4%) cases. The four most common conditions encountered were acne (31.8%), eczematous disorders (18%), melasma (14.8%), and superficial fungal infections (13.3 %). Chronic cases (74%) exceeded the acute cases (26%) in numbers. In the remaining cases where diagnosis was not possible (18%), they were asked to come for a face-to-face consultation; however, none of these patients turned up. In contrast, only 4% of the patients where a diagnosis was possible opted for a re-consultation through teledermatology and none chose to visit the clinic. Conclusion: Through this study, we identified patterns in the utilization of teledermatology concerning commonly encountered dermatoses, as well as the age and demographics of patients engaging in teledermatology. This information can be instrumental in the future to pinpoint areas where teledermatology could be more effectively employed.