Evaluation of practice patterns of general practitioners and dermatologists in treating naïve and recalcitrant dermatophytosis – an online survey

Dermatophytosis is a common presentation in clinic attendees. Recently there is an emergence of patients with dermatophyte infections which are non-responding to standard treatments. To find solutions to this problem it is important to have a basic understanding of the prevalent fungal species and prescription patterns of dermatologists and General Practitioners (GPs) and clinical response of the patients. With this background this online survey was conducted to evaluate the practice patterns of dermatologists and GPs in naïve and recalcitrant dermatophytosis.

Fifty dermatologists and fifty-four GPs participated in the online survey. Both dermatologists (85.5%) and GPs (80.3%) selected Miconazole as their preferred first line topical application in treating tinea infections in the government hospital. Griseofulvin was the commonly used (54%) oral antifungal by dermatologists in government sector and they seem to be preferring either Itraconazole or Terbinafine (36% each) in private sector. Majority of GPs used Fluconazole as the first line oral medication in both sectors. 60% of GPs admitted that there is a possibility of adding a topical steroid when the diagnosis of Dermatophyte infection was not sure.

88% dermatologists and 53.7% of GPs thought that there is a current trend of low therapeutic response in dermatophytosis. Both groups agreed that education of primary care physicians as a priority in overcoming this problem.