Korean J Med Mycol.
2018 Mar;23(1):15-23. 10.17966/JMI.2018.23.1.15.
Public Awareness of Onychomycosis in Korean: A Survey of 621 Participants
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Dermatology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea. hcko@pusan.ac.kr
- 2Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea.
- 3Department of Dermatology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 4Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 5Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, Korea.
- 6Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
- 7Department of Dermatology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 8Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
- 9Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
- 10Department of Dermatology, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
- 11Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.
- KMID: 2435719
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.17966/JMI.2018.23.1.15
Abstract
- BACKGROUND
The prevalence of onychomycosis is increasing due to the recent increase of the elderly population and immunosuppressed individuals. Clinical studies on onychomycosis have been reported several times in Korea. However, the public awareness of onychomycosis has not received considerable attention, and there have been no Korean studies focused on it.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate public awareness and experience of onychomycosis in Korean.
METHODS
A total of 621 participants were given questions developed for this survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, public awareness, general knowledge and experience about onychomycosis, and diagnostic and treatment behavior were surveyed.
RESULTS
According to this survey, 99.5% of respondents have heard of onychomycosis, 79.4% of respondents experienced onychomycosis suspicious symptoms, and 52.8% of them responded that onychomycosis can be completely cured only by cleansing the hands and feet. The rate of self-diagnosis was 64.1% among the respondents who experienced symptoms. Only 23.9% of the respondents who were diagnosed with onychomycosis visited the hospital for the first time. Of the respondents, 54.6% who were treated at the hospital discontinued their treatments before complete cure mainly because of long treatment period.
CONCLUSION
Participants were well aware of onychomycosis, but the rate of self-diagnosis was high. They generally agreed to the importance of hospital treatment, but the number of patients visiting hospital was low. Moreover, people frequently discontinue their hospital treatment despite insufficient treatment duration. Patient's behaviors need to be changed, and the roles of dermatologists are important in the diagnosis, treatment, and education of the patients.
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