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Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study
OBJECTIVE: The use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) teledermatology platforms has increased, particularly for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of these platforms. This study aimed to investigate the patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of DTC t...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10552455/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37808234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231205740 |
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author | von Büren, Johannes Hansen, Inga Kött, Julian Schröder, Florian Veneroso, Juliana Schneider, Stefan W. Abeck, Finn |
author_facet | von Büren, Johannes Hansen, Inga Kött, Julian Schröder, Florian Veneroso, Juliana Schneider, Stefan W. Abeck, Finn |
author_sort | von Büren, Johannes |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVE: The use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) teledermatology platforms has increased, particularly for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of these platforms. This study aimed to investigate the patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of DTC teledermatology for the finasteride treatment of male AGA. METHODS: This retrospective, cross-sectional study used data from a German DTC platform for finasteride treatment between December 2021 and January 2023. Patient-reported outcomes were collected through voluntary follow-up questionnaires provided to the patients six weeks after the first prescription to assess treatment outcomes and safety. RESULTS: Data collection included 2269 patients. Of all patients who answered the follow-up questionnaire (n = 191), 79% (150 out of 191) self-reported positive changes in hair appearance, and 59% (113 out of 191) reported an improvement in self-esteem under treatment. Patients with self-reported positive changes in hair appearance were more likely to report improved self-esteem (P < 0.0001). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 12% (22 out of 191) of the patients. Full treatment adherence was reported in 87% (167 out of 191) of patients. CONCLUSION: From the patient's perspective, DTC teledermatology has the potential to improve hair appearance and self-esteem. Our results suggest that it may be an effective and safe treatment option for men with AGA, justifying low-threshold access. However, treatment-related adverse events should be closely monitored during follow-up. Further studies are required to evaluate the long-term effects of the DTC teledermatology treatment. By collecting real-world data, teledermatology platforms could be useful beyond their primary focus and could play an important role in the context of future research. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10552455 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-105524552023-10-06 Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study von Büren, Johannes Hansen, Inga Kött, Julian Schröder, Florian Veneroso, Juliana Schneider, Stefan W. Abeck, Finn Digit Health Original Research OBJECTIVE: The use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) teledermatology platforms has increased, particularly for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of these platforms. This study aimed to investigate the patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of DTC teledermatology for the finasteride treatment of male AGA. METHODS: This retrospective, cross-sectional study used data from a German DTC platform for finasteride treatment between December 2021 and January 2023. Patient-reported outcomes were collected through voluntary follow-up questionnaires provided to the patients six weeks after the first prescription to assess treatment outcomes and safety. RESULTS: Data collection included 2269 patients. Of all patients who answered the follow-up questionnaire (n = 191), 79% (150 out of 191) self-reported positive changes in hair appearance, and 59% (113 out of 191) reported an improvement in self-esteem under treatment. Patients with self-reported positive changes in hair appearance were more likely to report improved self-esteem (P < 0.0001). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 12% (22 out of 191) of the patients. Full treatment adherence was reported in 87% (167 out of 191) of patients. CONCLUSION: From the patient's perspective, DTC teledermatology has the potential to improve hair appearance and self-esteem. Our results suggest that it may be an effective and safe treatment option for men with AGA, justifying low-threshold access. However, treatment-related adverse events should be closely monitored during follow-up. Further studies are required to evaluate the long-term effects of the DTC teledermatology treatment. By collecting real-world data, teledermatology platforms could be useful beyond their primary focus and could play an important role in the context of future research. SAGE Publications 2023-10-04 /pmc/articles/PMC10552455/ /pubmed/37808234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231205740 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Original Research von Büren, Johannes Hansen, Inga Kött, Julian Schröder, Florian Veneroso, Juliana Schneider, Stefan W. Abeck, Finn Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title | Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title_full | Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title_fullStr | Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title_full_unstemmed | Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title_short | Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study |
title_sort | patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: a cross-sectional study |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10552455/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37808234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231205740 |
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