[Skin diseases observed in the dermatology departments of three French university teaching hospitals]. / Activité de consultation de trois services de dermatologie hospitalo-universitaires français.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We recently carried out a study concerning consultations by French dermatologists in private practice. We evaluated consultations at the dermatology departments of 3 university teaching hospitals in France. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a 2-month prospective study conducted in 2003 at the dermatology departments of the university teaching hospitals of Amiens, Lille and Rouen. Each consultant completed a questionnaire covering the duration of the study. The following data were recorded consultation date, function of the consultant, study centre, type of consultation, type of disease, and whether or not the patient was hospitalised after the consultation. RESULTS: 7296 files were examined during the study. 38% of the consultations were performed by part-time hospital consultants, 29% by dermatology interns, 18% by hospital practitioners, 9% by university professors and 6% by clinical heads or assistant heads. The most commonly encountered diseases were allergies (17%), cancer (16%), arteriovenous disease (15%) and infectious disease (11%). Three types of consultation were identified emergency consultations without an appointment, consultations by appointment for a specific problem and consultations by appointment without a specific problem. The number of resulting hospital admissions ranged from 2 to 10% of consultations, depending on the type of consultation and the role of the consultant in question. DISCUSSION: This study shows that in France, consultations at hospital dermatology departments differ greatly from those of dermatologists in private practice. The main diseases seen (cancer, arteriovenous disease, allergy, infectious dermatosis) accounted for the majority of hospitalisations in these departments. The organisation of hospital consultations is increasingly tending both towards treatment of highly specialised diseases through specifically oriented consultations and also towards the emergency treatment of certain forms of acute dermatosis.