Study of patients' satisfaction toward photographing their skin lesions for educational purposes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Medical images have been widely used for various aims, especially for the educational purposes. Patient confidentiality and consent should be deemed crucial. In this study, we sought to assess patients' satisfaction with taking medical photos of their skin lesions and giving their physicians consent to use them for educational purposes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multi-method study included quantitative and qualitative phases and was performed from April to November 2018 in the Dermatology Department of Shiraz Faghihi Hospital in South Iran. Demographic information was analyzed using the descriptive statistics. To resolve the simultaneous effect of demographic variables on patient satisfaction, we conducted linear regression. All the tests were analyzed at the 0.05 significance level. RESULTS: In this study, all the patients except one (99.5%) preferred that only a physician who had a direct role in their care can access their digital photos. Of 200 patients, 134 patients (62.33%) preferred the utilization of hospital cameras in photographing their skin lesions ( P = 0.002). On the other hand, 131 patients (49.81%) did not gave consent about using a personal phone camera for photographing their skin lesions ( P = 0.001). In the qualitative phase, two major themes (trusting attending physician and paying attention to patient confidentiality) and five sub-themes (considering their physicians as professional people who always do the right thing, allowing physicians to use their images for educational purposes, covering patient's face, using hospital cameras, and obtaining informed consent from patients) were derived from qualitative semi-structured interviews. CONCLUSION: The results showed that there is a need for developing international and national photography guidelines in the era of technology development.

Photography in dermatology ‐ a scoping review: Practices, skin of color, patient preferences, and medical‐legal considerations

“…Most authors do not disclose the setting of their photography practice, whether it is conducted in a private or public clinic 18–21,23–25,27–29,31–33 . Those who do provide such information predominantly report hospital‐based practices 22,26,34,35–38 . Both the equipment and frequency of photography use in private and public practices are comparable.…”

“…[18][19][20][21][23][24][25][27][28][29][31][32][33] Those who do provide such information predominantly report hospital-based practices. 22,26,34,[35][36][37][38] Both the equipment and frequency of photography use in private and public practices are comparable. For example, there is a similar level of smartphone usage.…”

“…12,34,36 Several studies from different countries demonstrated clinic-or hospital-owned cameras were consistently preferred over physicians'person devices due to concerns of patient confidentiality and photograph security. 11,12,[35][36][37][38] For example, in a study of 300 patients in the US, 98% of patients preferred a hospital-owned camera over smartphones. 11 Alternatively, patients have positive attitude towards taking photos using their own smartphone, but one study suggested older patients were less satisfied with using their own device.…”

“…37 As for access of photographs, one study of 200 patients from Iran reported all patients preferred that only physicians directly involved in their care have access to their photographs. 38 If necessary, sharing photos in medical meetings is preferred by most patients as oppose to sending images via e-mail, or use in publications, health magazines and websites. 35 Prior to photography, patients prefer written consent over verbal consent, and anatomical locations including the perineal region and face may affect patients' attitude towards privacy breach.…”

Does Camera Type Affect Patient Comfort? An Analysis of Patient Opinions of Office Photography

“…Few have investigated the effect of camera type on the patient's perception of the office visit. [16][17][18][19][20][21] The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of using traditional DSLR style cameras compared to modern smartphone cameras in officebased plastic surgery patient photography. The results showed that the camera type chosen by the physician has no impact on patient comfort levels and that the vast majority of patients were comfortable with office photography in general.…”