High- and Low-risk Actinic Keratosis Referrals to Secondary Care

Sponsor

Maastricht University Medical Center (Other)

Overall Status

Active, not recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT05976061

Collaborator

Tergooi Hospital (Other)

3,379

Enrollment

Location

Anticipated Duration (Months)

91.3

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This study evaluates the implementation of the General Practitioners guidelines 'Suspicious Skin Lesions' and investigated whether their publication and implementation has led to a reduction in the proportion of referrals of low-risk patients with actinic keratosis to secondary care, after publication of the General Practitioners guidelines and implementation activities.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Actinic Keratoses

Detailed Description

In the Dutch healthcare system, patients are first examined by the general practitioner who decides whether a referral to a dermatologist is indicated. Both general practitioners and dermatologists can diagnose and treat patients with actinic keratosis. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish which patients the general practitioner should refer to a dermatologist and which patients are suitable to be treated by the general practitioner.

This retrospective data study evaluates the proportion of low risk actinic keratosis patients in 2019 en 2018.

Study Design

Study Type:

Observational

Actual Enrollment :

3379 participants

Observational Model:

Cohort

Time Perspective:

Retrospective

Official Title:

High- and Low-risk Actinic Keratosis Referrals to Secondary Care. Implementation of the General Practitioners Guidelines for Actinic Keratosis Patients.

Actual Study Start Date :

Mar 1, 2021

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Sep 1, 2023

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Apr 1, 2024

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Low risk patients Low risk actinic keratosis patients referred by the general practitioner and diagnosed as actinic keratosis by the dermatologist in 2018 and 2019.
High risk patients High risk actinic keratosis patients referred by the general practitioner and diagnosed as actinic keratosis by the dermatologist in 2018 and 2019.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Change in proportion of low-risk actinic keratosis patients among all actinic keratosis patients. [2018 compared to 2019 (2 years)]
The change in proportion of low-risk actinic keratosis patients among all actinic keratosis patients referred by the general practitioner to the dermatologist. The definition of low-risk actinic keratosis patients was based on the General Practitioners guidelines 'Suspicious skin lesions' (published in 2017). Patients were defined as low-risk when they were not immunocompromised, did not have a cutaneous malignancy in their medical history, did not have previous treatment or if they did not have extensive lesions.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and Older

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Inclusion Criteria:

patients of 18 years and older
referred to dermatologist for suspicion of actinic keratosis and diagnosed as actinic keratosis by the dermatologist
treated at MaastrichtUMC+ or TergooiHospital

Exclusion Criteria:

different diagnosis than actinic keratosis
referred by a different specialist than the general practitioner
referred with multiple problems
referred for a second opinion
if the patients was treated as different diagnosis than actinic keratosis by general practitioner