Abstract
BackgroundUK morbidity and mortality rates from skin cancer are increasing despite existing preventative strategies involving education and early detection. Manual therapists are ideally placed to support these goals as they see greater quantities of exposed patient skin more often than most other healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study therefore was to ascertain the ability of manual therapists to detect, screen and refer suspicious skin lesions.MethodA web-based questionnaire and quiz was used in a sample of UK chiropractic student clinicians and registered chiropractors to gather data during 2011 concerning skin screening and referral behaviors for suspicious skin lesions.ResultsA total of 120 questionnaires were included. Eighty one percent of participants agreed that screening for suspicious skin lesions was part of their clinical role, with nearly all (94%) assessing their patients for lesions during examination. Over 90% of the participants reported regularly having the opportunity for skin examination; with nearly all (98%) agreeing they would refer patients with suspicious skin lesions to a medical practitioner. A third of respondents had referred a total of 80 suspicious lesions within the last 12 months with 67% warranting further investigation.ConclusionsNearly all respondents agreed that screening patients for suspicious skin lesions was part of their clinical role, with a significant number already referring patients with lesions.
Highlights
UK morbidity and mortality rates from skin cancer are increasing despite existing preventative strategies involving education and early detection
Eighty one percent of participants agreed that screening for suspicious skin lesions was part of their clinical role, with most (94%) assessing their patients for lesions during examination
Over 90% of the participants reported regularly having the opportunity for skin examination; with most (98%) agreeing they would refer patients with suspicious skin lesions to a medical practitioner
Summary
UK morbidity and mortality rates from skin cancer are increasing despite existing preventative strategies involving education and early detection. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the ability of manual therapists to detect, screen and refer suspicious skin lesions. A smaller number regularly see patients unclothed and see areas of the body inaccessible to visual inspection by the patient themselves Of those that do, manual therapists such as masseurs, osteopaths and chiropractors are ideally placed to regularly screen the skin for suspicious lesions. Of that research already carried out, this was restricted to a student population only and recommended that further research should test the ability of chiropractors to identify pathological moles on a broader, evaluative basis [13] In view of this we investigated the accuracy with which chiropractic student clinicians and registered chiropractors were able to recognise as suspicious or benign, a variety of common skin lesions from images chosen by a dermatologist. For the purpose of this article the term ‘chiropractic student clinicians’ has been adopted to describe chiropractic students or interns in their final year of clinical study
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