Health services research in dermatology--current update and perspectives

An in-depth knowledge of the demands on health care resources and the quality of health care provision is of major importance for the future care of skin and allergy patients. We present a comprehensive summary of all available health care data and research activities in dermatology in Germany.

A standardized electronic literature search was performed using PUBMED as well as a manual search to identify activities in the field of health services research in dermatology. Furthermore, questionnaires were sent to 114 dermatology hospitals and to 52 health service research institutions in Germany.

The overall return rate of the survey was 81%. Hints on projects were given by 30 hospitals and 5 institutions. Most of these projects were in the field of epidemiology, quality of life, economy and prevention. Finally, the search identified 101 health services research projects in Germany. In addition, material gathered from internet and secondary citations from scientific journals produced a total of 216 publications. Only few projects were found on the working conditions of physicians and other health care professionals, on the implementation of guidelines, on needs and use of dermatological services and on the quality of care.

The findings demonstrate that there are substantial deficiencies in some important areas of health services research in dermatology. To provide efficient and qualified dermatological health care in Germany in the future, more research projects on the needs, demands and quality of health care are needed.