Investigating and summarizing information resources for the clinical presentation and diagnosis of cutaneous manifestations of infectious diseases in patients with Skin of Color.

Abstract

Abstract Title: Investigating and summarizing information resources for the clinical presentation and diagnosis of cutaneous manifestations of infectious diseases in patients with skin of color (SOC). Background: Skin of color presents disease differently in many circumstances, yet we see a lack of information regarding the presentation and diagnosis of cutaneous manifestations, specifically of those with SOC who are experiencing infectious disease. Many studies have found that SOC is underrepresented in preclinical courses for medical students and may later lead to misdiagnosis of diseases in dark-skinned populations (Louie & Wilkes, 2018; Mangione-Smith et al., 2004; Martin et al., 2016; Tsai et al., 2016). Because SOC is less represented in medical textbooks, patients with diseases such as Lyme disease presenting with cutaneous manifestations such as Erythema migrans may experience a delay in diagnosis (Fix, 2000; Ly, 2021; Palmieri, 2019). Methods: The databases PubMed and ScienceDirect were used to acquire research and review articles. Only resources provided in English were considered in the literature search. Articles were reviewed if they addressed cutaneous manifestations of infectious diseases in patients with SOC as a key topic. Only articles after the year 1980 were included. For inclusion, articles needed to include information regarding cutaneous manifestations of infectious diseases, specifically in patients with SOC. Articles were excluded if they contained no information regarding both Infectious disease and SOC. Duplicates were also removed. Results: Overall, 17 articles were identified out of 2,565 results. Searches regarding the general phrase “skin manifestations of infectious disease in “dark skin” and “HIV in "pigmented skin" yielded the most results. Many articles contained only a few sentences regarding infectious disease manifestations in patients with SOC. HIV had the highest representation of infectious disease cutaneous manifestations in patients with SOC, with five of the seventeen articles pertaining to the discussion of HIV in patients with SOC. 1,5,6,11,14,15. The most recent article discussed a study looking at the use of Perceptual and Adaptive Learning Modules (PALMs) to increase skin assessment in patients with SOC Conclusion: This review identified significant gaps in the literature regarding cutaneous manifestations of infectious disease in SOC, such as lack of visual examples and representations of common infectious diseases in Skin of Color. Healthcare disparities in both Infectious Disease and Dermatology are present and affect the care of patients with skin of color. Increased research is needed in both fields, as well as collaboration between fields to help alleviate the barriers patients with skin of color face when obtaining care.