was 91.1% for Whites and 67.3% for Blacks.5 Therefore, more educational resources are needed for skin cancer detection in people of color.
The study is limited by the subjectivity in assigning Fitzpatrick skin types. Lighting variations also contributed to dif!culties in assigning colors.
The AAD public education website portrays diverse arrays of skin colors. We recommend increased emphasis on increasing the number of darker skin color images for the birthmark, rosacea, ringworm, blistering disorders, and skin cancer sections. It is essential that patient education mirrors US diversity and avoids unintended biases.
The study is limited by the subjectivity in assigning Fitzpatrick skin types. Lighting variations also contributed to dif!culties in assigning colors.
The AAD public education website portrays diverse arrays of skin colors. We recommend increased emphasis on increasing the number of darker skin color images for the birthmark, rosacea, ringworm, blistering disorders, and skin cancer sections. It is essential that patient education mirrors US diversity and avoids unintended biases.
DISCLOSURES
Michelle Chang and Dr. Lipner have no conflicts of interest
relevant to the content.
REFERENCES
- Tan SS, Goonawardene N. Internet health information seeking and the patient-physician relationship: a systematic review. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Jan;19(1):e9.
- Bloom R, Amber KT, Hu S, Kirsner R. Google search trends and skin cancer: evaluating the us population’s interest in skin cancer and its association with melanoma outcomes. JAMA Dermatol. 2015;151(8):903-905.
- Alvarado SM, Feng H, Representation of dark skin images of common dermatologic conditions in educational resources: a cross-sectional analysis. J Am Acad Dermatol. (2020).
- Jia JL, Wang JY, Mills DE, Shen A, Sarin KY. Fitzpatrick phototype disparities in identification of cutaneous malignancies by Google reverse image. J Am Acad Dermatol. (2020).
- Kaufman BP, Alexis AF. Skin cancer mortality in patients with skin of color. Cutis. 2017 May;99(5):307-308.
AUTHOR CORRESPONDENCE
Shari R. Lipner MD PhD shl9032@med.cornell.edu
