26452 Impact of COVID-19 on patient willingness to seek in-person dermatologic care

Abstract

The coronavirus-19 (COVID) pandemic has hindered health care provider operations, and its impact on patient willingness to seek in-person dermatologic care lacks extensive study. Understanding how a pandemic may influence patient motivation to consult a dermatologist may facilitate efficient allocation of health care provider resources both during and after COVID. Participants (n = 416) were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a web-based survey platform. Subjects were randomized to one of fourteen groups, each entailing a pre-COVID or during-COVID hypothetical scenario of a socially stigmatized skin condition: scalp psoriasis, herpes labialis, acne vulgaris, rosacea, tinea faciei, melanoma, or a benign nevus. Subjects rated their willingness to schedule an in-person dermatology appointment on a 5-point Likert scale (ie, willingness score). Sociodemographic data were collected. Herpes labialis, tinea faciei, and melanoma prompted higher willingness scores during COVID (3.94; 4.03; 3.54) compared with pre-COVID (3.81; 4.0; 3.32); scalp psoriasis, acne vulgaris, rosacea, and benign nevi prompted lower willingness scores during COVID (3.33; 2.88; 3.67; 3.07) compared with pre-COVID (3.93; 3.19; 4.21; 3.7). The benign nevus group displayed the largest decrease in willingness scores from pre-COVID (3.7) to during COVID (3.07). Patients reported higher willingness to seek in-person evaluation for conditions associated with stronger social stigmas, such as scalp psoriasis and herpes labialis, during COVID. We did not control for subject familiarity with each skin condition, and perceived degree of disfigurement was not measured. Patient willingness to seek treatment during COVID may be changing rapidly and, at this time, does not appear to be largely affected by the pandemic.