Acne Vulgaris — The Use of Teledermatology in the Treatment of Patients With Severe Acne on Isotretinoin
Citation(s)
Bergman H, Tsai KY, Seo SJ, Kvedar JC, Watson AJ Remote assessment of acne: the use of acne grading tools to evaluate digital skin images. Telemed J E Health. 2009 Jun;15(5):426-30. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0128.
Burke BM, Cunliffe WJ The assessment of acne vulgaris--the Leeds technique. Br J Dermatol. 1984 Jul;111(1):83-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1984.tb04020.x.
Risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) iPLEDGE Program: Single Shared System for Isotretinoin. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforP atientsandProviders/UCM234639.pdf . Accessed November 11, 2012.
Tsang MW, Resneck JS Jr Even patients with changing moles face long dermatology appointment wait-times: a study of simulated patient calls to dermatologists. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006 Jul;55(1):54-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2006.04.001. Epub 2006 May 6.
Watson AJ, Bergman H, Williams CM, Kvedar JC A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of online follow-up visits in the management of acne. Arch Dermatol. 2010 Apr;146(4):406-11. doi: 10.1001/archdermatol.2010.29.
The Use of Teledermatology in the Treatment of Patients With Severe Acne on Isotretinoin: A Randomized-controlled Trial
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
