Clinical and Diagnostic Profile of Dermatology Consultations in a Tertiary Care University Hospital: A Retrospective Observational Study

Overview

Background: Dermatology consultations requested by non-dermatology departments in hospital settings are common and play a critical role in patient management. These consultations often involve diagnostic challenges and may influence treatment decisions, hospital stay, and clinical outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the clinical and diagnostic characteristics of dermatology consultations in a tertiary care university hospital over a two and a half years period.

This retrospective observational study was conducted at the dermatology department of a university hospital, a tertiary care center, between January 2024 and June 2026. All inpatient and outpatient dermatology consultations requested by non-dermatology departments were included. Incomplete or missing medical records were excluded. Data were extracted from electronic medical records using a standardized data collection form. The following variables were recorded: Demographic characteristics (age, sex), requesting department, dermatologic symptoms and presenting complaints, final dermatologic diagnosis, diagnostic procedures (e.g., biopsy, microbiological tests), treatment recommendations and follow-up plans. Frequency and distribution of dermatologic diagnoses, distribution of consultation reasons, rate of histopathological confirmation, diagnostic concordance between referring physicians and dermatologists were examined. Statistical analyses were performed using appropriate software. Descriptive statistics (mean, median, percentages) were used to summarize the data. Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test. A p-value \< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Diagnoses were grouped into six major categories: Infectious dermatoses, inflammatory dermatoses, drug-related skin reactions, autoimmune/bullous diseases, tumors and precancerous lesions, other dermatologic conditions.

Conditions