Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Dermatology
Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Nov 29, 2021 - Jan 24, 2022
Date Accepted: Jun 26, 2022
Date Submitted to PubMed: Oct 30, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Evaluation of WhatsApp as a Platform for Teledermatology in Botswana
ABSTRACT
Background:
In developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, access to specialty services such as dermatology is limited. Teledermatology is an innovative solution to address this issue; however, many initiatives have been trialed without sustained success. Recently, WhatsApp has been used as a store-and-forward telemedicine communication platform for consultation and education in Botswana.
Objective:
This study aims to describe the utilization of WhatsApp for teledermatology and satisfaction levels of participating providers.
Methods:
A retrospective review was performed of all WhatsApp communications received by dermatologists working in Botswana from January 2016 to December 2019. Sender information, format of communication/consultation, type of patient information provided, patient demographics, time to reply, diagnoses made, and outcome of consultations were collected. A cross-sectional survey was performed of healthcare providers who utilized WhatsApp during this period. Descriptive statistics were performed.
Results:
Over the study period, 811 communication threads occurred. The majority (62.0%) of communications were consultations from providers inquiring about a specific patient, followed by multidisciplinary care coordination communications (11.1%). Our in-depth analysis focused on the former. In 323 (64.2%) provider consultations, dermatologists responded within one hour. A diagnosis was made in 274 (54.5%) consultations. Dermatologists gave treatment recommendations remotely in 281 (55.9%) consultations and advised an in-person dermatology visit in 163 (32.4%). Of providers using WhatsApp for these services, 15.3% completed the survey. All respondents (100.0%) felt there was a need for teledermatology and improved teledermatology education in Botswana. Seventeen (73.9%) respondents strongly felt that the guidance received via WhatsApp was high quality and 22 (95.7%) respondents were satisfied with WhatsApp as a platform for teledermatology.
Conclusions:
WhatsApp is a quick, effective, and well-received method of communication between dermatologists and providers across Botswana. The application may offer a solution to the difficulties providers face in accessing specialty referral systems, point-of-care information, and medical-decision-making support for complex dermatologic cases in Botswana. The knowledge gained from this study can help increase the successful implementation of teledermatology in Botswana and inform the future growth of telemedicine platforms in other developing countries.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.