Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
4 years ago

The role of the ugly duckling sign in patient education

The ABCDE (with A standing for asymmetry, B for border irregularity, C for color variegation, D for diameter larger than 6 mm, and E for evolution) rule for melanoma (MM) recognition is widely taught in the general population. The ugly duckling (UD) sign is an alternate MM recognition strategy that is not generally taught. Objective To compare the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MM recognition with UD sign and the ABCD rule in a general population. Methods Participants were randomized into either the ABCD or UD arm of the study. An educational tutorial on their respective teaching method followed. Participants were subsequently tested using images of 9 lesions (7 nevi and 2 MMs) and asked to categorize each image as MM or not MM. Results A total of 51 participants were randomized to the ABCD group and 50 to the UD group. The sensitivity for MM recognition of both groups was similar. The specificity and accuracy for MM recognition was significantly higher (P =.02, P = .02) in the UD group. Limitations The E for evolution in the ABCDE rule was not tested. No follow-up knowledge retention test was conducted. Conclusion The UD sign significantly improved accuracy and specificity of MM recognition. We recommend adding the UD sign to patient education in addition to the traditional ABCDE rule.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S0190962217320546

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.