[Deeper skin tones rarely depicted in Dutch dermatology textbooks]

Abstract

Objective: Within diverse populations such as in the Netherlands, medical education must prepare students to diagnose skin conditions on a broad range of skin tones. To develop the visual pattern recognition skills to do so, medical students need exposure to skin conditions on deeper skin tones. The purpose of this study is to assess the inclusion of images of brown skin in Dutch dermatology textbooks.

Design: Observational study.

Method: Two large Dutch student textbook web shops were searched for dermatology textbooks, and all available general dermatology textbooks explicitly aimed at medical students were selected. All images of skin were examined and divided into the categories 'light skin', 'light to medium brown skin', 'medium to deep brown skin', 'deep to very deep brown skin', and 'indeterminate'.

Results: Five textbooks, with a total of 2060 images of skin, were examined. 87.6% of images showed light skin, 7.0% showed light to medium brown skin, 2.9% showed medium to deep brown skin, and 0.5% showed deep to very deep brown skin. 2.0% was categorized as 'indeterminate'.

Conclusion: Dutch dermatology textbooks currently include only small percentages of images of brown skin. Unfamiliarity with disease presentation on deeper skin tones can lead to delayed diagnosis and worse outcomes in Black and Brown patients. Future textbooks should include images of different skin tones, including deeper ones, for every skin condition.