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The need for greater skin of color training: perspectives from communities of color

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Abstract

More than half of the population will belong to a minority group by the year 2044. Further research needs to be done into the perceptions of those with skin of color regarding their dermatologic care. This study assessed the perceptions and preferences of communities of color regarding the care of their skin and hair. An anonymous, cross-sectional, multiple-choice, online survey was administered from August through October 2021. Participants were recruited using ResearchMatch, a national volunteer health registry supported by the US National Institutes of Health. Eligibility criteria included being 18 years or older, identifying with at least one racial/ethnic group within skin of color, and living in the United States. A total of 547 participants completed the survey, 463 women (84.6%) and 84 men (15.4%) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 44.1 (15.4) years. 301 self-identified as Black (55.0%), 84 Latinx (15.4%), 90 Asian (16.5%), and 72 Multiracial (13.2%). Participants did not feel like dermatologists are trained to treat skin of color (69.5%, n = 380) or ethnic hair (75.1%, n = 411). Participants believed that all dermatologists should have training in skin of color (92.3%, n = 505) and would be more likely to see a dermatologist if they had skin of color training (80.1%, n = 438) as they felt dermatologists who have skin of color training are better equipped to treat their conditions (67.1%, n = 367). Participants were more comfortable receiving treatment at clinics that specialize in skin of color (75.1%, n = 411), but overwhelmingly had never heard of skin of color clinics (94.1%, n = 515). Participants were willing to contribute non-identifiable photos (96.3%, n = 527) and stories about skin and hair diseases (94.1%, n = 515) to create skin of color resources to train dermatologists. Overall, perceptions of communities of color on dermatologic care need to be improved. Greater skin of color training including all races/ethnicities and skin tones is imperative, and greater visibility and resources should also be put into skin of color clinics and formal skin of color research.

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Data availability statement

Data is available on request.

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Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the Northwestern University Department of Dermatology.

Funding

There was no funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 676 N St. Clair St Ste 1600, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Kourtney Scott, Sneha Poondru & Roopal V. Kundu

  2. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kathryn L. Jackson

Authors
  1. Kourtney Scott
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  2. Sneha Poondru
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  3. Kathryn L. Jackson
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  4. Roopal V. Kundu
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Contributions

KS, SP, and RVK wrote the main manuscript text. KS led data collection, data analysis, and prepared Table 1. KLJ led statistical analysis. All authors reviewed the manuscript and approved the submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roopal V. Kundu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Northwestern University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare they have no financial interests.

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Scott, K., Poondru, S., Jackson, K.L. et al. The need for greater skin of color training: perspectives from communities of color. Arch Dermatol Res 315, 2441–2444 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-023-02635-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-023-02635-0

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