Did dermatological hospital referrals and practice of dermatologists change in between pre-covid and covid era? A short-term preliminary evaluation

Objective: In this descriptive study, we aimed to evaluate features of dermatology referrals before and after Covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The patients referred to dermatology outpatient clinics of Acıbadem Group Hospitals in Istanbul between the time intervals 2019 March 1st and August 31st (Group G1) and 2020 March 1st and August 31st (Group G2) were included in this study. G1 and G2 groups were compared in terms of age, gender, mean duration of complaints, the most common five anatomic regions and the most common five dermatoses. Results: Referral rate after Covid-19 pandemic was decreased by 40%. Face (p=.0013, OR= 1.20, 95% CI=1.07–1.34), scalp (p=.02, OR=1.23, 95% CI=1.02–1.48) and hand (p=.04, 95% OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.00–1.54) were more common locations in 2020 (group G2) than in 2019 (G2 group). The most common five dermatoses were contact dermatitis (8.3%), acne (8,1%), wart (7,0%), seborrheic dermatitis (5,7%) and pyoderma (5,5%) in G1 (2019), while the order was contact dermatitis (10,6%), acne (7,5%), seborrheic dermatitis (6,5%), wart (6,4%) and pyoderma (4,9%) in G2 (2020). Contact dermatitis showed a significant increase after pandemic (p=.0017, OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.10–1.51). In 2020, psoriasis and lichen planus showed a two-fold increases (P<.001, OR=2.00, 95% CI=1.43–2.79 and p=.03, OR=1.92, 95% CI=1.09–3.38, respectively), whereas frequency of molluscum contagiosum decreased significantly (p=.03, OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.26–0.92). Conclusion: Although we found some remarkable results, relatively short-term period design with the limited patient population of this study needs to be verified in more comprehensive studies.