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What do dermatology patients believe?
Author(s) -
Burton J. L,
Thompson Lorna
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1976.tb00968.x
Subject(s) - medicine , worry , referral , dermatology , suspect , disease , pediatrics , family medicine , psychiatry , anxiety , political science , law
A study of 151 new outpatients attending a dermatology clinic in Bristol, England, has been performed to determine what patients with skin disease believe and are told about their condition. The factor most commonly blamed as a causative agent by the patients was worry or emotional upset. Forty‐one percent of the patients had used self‐medication before going to their general practitioner (GP). Forty‐five percent of patients had attended their GP on 4 or more occasions before their referral to hospital. Forty‐one percent felt the GP's treatment had either done no good or made things worse, and 13% had experienced some side‐effects from treatment. Forty‐two percent of patients had been given a diagnosis by their GP but only 16% had been told whether the condition was contagious. Eighteen patients believed they had a contagious disease, but this was subsequently confirmed by the hospital doctor in only 6 cases. Six patients had a skin cancer, but none of them appeared to suspect this diagnosis.