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Digital advancements have given access to robust real-world data widely used for dermatological research.

A study in Dermatology designed to investigate the agreement between consumer-driven self-assessed- and physician-assessed severity showed a limited level of concordance based on photographic evaluation. Researchers collected data from questionnaires and a smartphone photograph depicting psoriasis vulgaris on the body. The study team used physician evaluations of smartphone images to assess erythema, induration, and scaling on a 0 to 4 scale derived from the Psoriasis Area Severity Index. Self-assessment was conducted on a 0 to 10 scale and subsequently converted to a 0–4 scale. Scores for self-assessment were higher compared to the assessments of physicians scores for all groups, and scaling was closest to the physicians’ assessment. The researchers noted a large disparity in the assessment of erythema between physician- and patient-assessment scores. According to the authors, the correlation between self-assessed and physician-assessed psoriasis severity for all patients was 0.23, 0.34 for chronic patients, and 0.09 for non-chronic patients. While digital advancements have given access to robust real-world data widely used for dermatological research, the authors advise caution when consumer-driven real-world data in this context.