BACKGROUND: The reference list is an important part of a scientific article. To be useful it must be accurate. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of reference citations in the Korean Journal of Dermatology and the Annals of Dermatology. METHODS: We randomly selected 200 references (100 references from Korean language journals and 100 references from foreign language journals) from the Korean Journal of Dermatology and 100 references from the Annals of Dermatology and checked them against the .original articles. RESULTS: The overall rate of citation error was 32%, and errors in the title and author names of the citation were common, each occurring in about two fifths of the citation errors. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the rate of citation errors is unacceptably high in the Korean Journal of Dermatology and the Annals of Dermatology, which significantly diminishes the value of the reference list.
Dermatology*

No abstract available.
Dermatology

BACKGROUND: Current changing trends in dermatology practices push most dermatologists to manage their own homepage. But, most dermatologists do not know how to construct and maintain their homepage effectively and efficiently. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: By testing web usability of four dermatology clinic homepages of relatively large scale, we tried to give some insight of constructing homepages in the viewpoints of homepage users to dermatologists who have a plan to make their own homepage. RESULTS: Four well-known dermatology clinic homepages are relatively well-planned and multi-purposed ones. However, they show weaknesses in the aspect of information architecture and the selection of the themes of contents. Most of the online shopping malls constructed on their homepages show only primitive forms. CONCLUSION: For the effective operation a clinic homepage, a dermatologist as a planner and manager of homepage should have the concept of web usability. If homepages are built with the concept of web usability, they will be operated more fruitfully.
Dermatology*

BACKGROUND: The reference list is an important part of a scientific papers. To be useful it must be accurate OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate quotation accuracy in the Korean Journal of Dermatology and the Annals of Dermatology. METHODS: We randomly selected 35 references from Korean Journal of Dermatology and 35 references from Annals of Dermatology and checked them against the original articles. RESULTS: The overall rate of quotation error was 32.9%, respectively 40% in the Annals of Dermatology and 25.7% in the Korean Journal of Dermatology. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the rate of quotation errors is unacceptably high in the Korean Journal of Dermatology and the Annals of Dermatology, which significantly diminishes the value of the information of its source.
Dermatology*

Dermatology

Original article: Kroemer S, Frühauf J, Campbell T, Massone C, Schwantzer G, Soyer H, Hofmann-Wellenhof R. Mobile teledermatology for skin tumour screening: diagnostic accuracy of clinical and dermoscopic image tele-evaluation using cellular phones. Br J Dermatol. 2011;164(5):973-979. Aim: The original article aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of clinical and dermoscopic image tele-evaluation for mobile skin tumor screening. Setting and population: The tumors examined in the study were selected prospectively from an outpatient clinic in Graz, Austria in a duration of 3 months. They are from men or women with benign and/or malignant skin tumors of either melanocytic or non-melanocytic origin. A total of 104 tumors from 80 patients using a mobile phone camera were gathered. The lesions were from the head and neck area, trunk, legs and feet and genital area. Study examination: A board-certified dermatologist with clinical expertise in teledermatology and dermoscopy reviewed the clinical and dermoscopic pictures with clinical information separately. The results from the review of the pictures were compared with those obtained by face-to-face examination and the gold standard face-to-face examination plus histopathology. Outcome: Tumors were classified under four categories: benign non-melanocytic, benign melanocytic, malignant non-melanocytic and malignant melanocytic. The table (Table 1) below shows the final diagnoses of the skin tumors examined per category. Results: Among these 104 lesions, 25 (24%) benign non-melanocytic, 15 (14%) benign melanocytic, 58 (56%) malignant non-melanocytic and six (6%) malignant melanocytic lesions were identified. Clinical and dermoscopic tele-evaluations showed high sensitivity and specificity. For malignant non-melanocytic tumors, sensitivity for both clinical and dermoscopic lesions is 97%; specificity for clinical and dermoscopic lesions are 91& and 94%, respectively. For classifying malignant melanocytic lesions, sensitivity for both clinical and dermoscopic lesions is 100% while specificity is 98% and 97%, respectively Conclusion: Clinical image tele-evaluation might be the method of choice for mobile tumor screening. Both clinical image tele-evaluation and teledermoscopy achieved excellent and equally high concordance rates with the gold standard.
dermatology ;

Dermatology

BACKGROUND: The Korean Journal of Dermatology, a well-known dermatology journal in Korea, has been an es-sential medium for dermatologists and a symbol of the Korean Dermatological Association. The members of the associa-tion have an obligation to improve the quality of the journal. The statistical analysis is associated directly with the study design and completeness of an article. However, there has been no report on the statistical analyses used in the articles of the Korean Journal of Dermatology. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the usage of statistical methods in the journal and evaluate their accuracy and correctness. METHODS: A total of 264 original articles from 30 recent volumes of the Korean Journal of Dermatology (2003, vol.1 to 2005, vol.6) were collected and analyzed for statistical methods. The descriptive statistics were excluded from the study. The methods were con-sidered as 'correct', 'not-correct', or 'impossible to determine' in order to evaluate the correctness of the analyses. RESULTS: Of the 264 original articles, 126 (47.7%) articles included statistical analysis. The authors most frequently the used t-test and contingency table method. The incorrect analyses appeared in 30 (23.8%) articles, and their most frequently cited reason was their unwillingness to use the nonparametric analysis. CONCLUSION: Recently, the statistical methods in about one fourth of inferentially analyzed original articles of the Korean Journal of Dermatology have been found to be incorrect, and the reasons for the incorrectness appear not to be so difficult for authors to rectify.
Dermatology* ; Korea

BACKGROUND: Photographic imaging is a valuable tool in Dermatology. Analog cameras have been used for many years for documenting such images. However, with the recent introduction of the digital camera, dermatologists have begun to replace analog images for digital images when recording dermatologic and histologic findings. We employed a continuous quality improvement (CQI) activity to achieve this goal to replace the image recording system. METHODS: A CQI team composed of all the department members was formed to begin digitalization, Problems caused during digitalization were discussed during monthly meetings. RESULT: 1. We could achieve improvements of image management efficacy. 2. There was a reduction of management space. 3. There was a reduction of costs seen in the total expenses of preparing photographic documentation. CONCLUSION: After digitalization of clinical and histological dermatologic imaging, we were able to reduce expenses, use storage spaces more efficiently, and reduce production time. When considering the efficiency of hospital management, these results are very encouraging, and it can be stated that these results are a good outcome of CQI activities.
Dermatology ; Quality Improvement*

BACKGROUND: Statistical errors have been noted in a large percentage of articles appearing in medical journals. Their incidence in the Annals of Dermatology and the Korean Journal of Dermatology, however, has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of statistical methods in the Annals of Dermatology and the Korean Journal of Dermatology. METHOD: Original papers using the t test in the Annals of Dermatology(AD) and in the Korean Journal of Dermatology(KJD) from January 1990 to July 1994 were analyzed for correctness of statistical methods. RESULTS: Of the 376 original papers in the period considered, 78(20.7%) presented t tests and 43(55.1%) of these also contained some errors. Of the 9 papers from the Annals of Dermatology, 4(44.4%) included at least one error. Of the 69 papers from the Korean Journal of Dermatology, 39(56.5%) included at least one error. CONCLUSION: Misuse of statistical methodology may not be uncommon in the two Korean Dermatology journals, and it would be prudent to give more attention to statistical methodology.
Dermatology* ; Incidence ; Methods