Dermatologist visits shorter for Asian psoriasis patients

Asian patients with psoriasis receive significantly less face-to-face time with a dermatologist than patients of other races and ethnicities, according to a research letter published online Aug. 3 in JAMA Dermatology.

Kevin K. Wu, M.D., and April W. Armstrong, M.D., M.P.H., from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, conducted a cross-sectional study of data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2010 through 2016 and examined the association between patient race/ethnicity and time spent with the dermatologist for psoriasis treatment. A weighted estimate of 4,201,745 patient visits for psoriasis was identified.

The researchers observed a significant difference in the age of patients by race (37.2, 44.7, 33.3, and 54.8 years for Asian, Hispanic, Black, and White patients, respectively) and for the complex topical regimen among the groups (11.8, 1.5, and 1.1 percent for Asian, Black, and White patients, respectively). The mean visit duration was 9.2, 15.7, 20.7, and 15.4 minutes with Asian, Hispanic or Latino, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White patients, respectively. Compared with visits with White patients, visits with Asian patients had a 39.9 percent shorter mean duration, while compared with visits with non-Asian patients as a single group, visits with Asian patients were 40.6 percent shorter.

"Dermatologists spend less time with Asian patients with psoriasis compared with patients of other races and ethnicities," the authors write. "Dermatologists need to allow sufficient time to develop strong physician-patient communication regardless of patient background."

Armstrong disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry; she also is on the editorial board for JAMA Dermatology.

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