Three minute skin exams effective

International report

- A study, published in

Archives of Dermatology reports full-body skin exams can be completed effectively in under three minutes, including those using dermoscopy, according to 6minutes.com.

Researchers looked at nearly 1400 patients at a skin clinic, timing the skin exams both with and without dermoscopy. The study found exams using dermoscopy doubled the time it took to perform the exam (142 seconds) and was directly proportional to the patients lesion count, 6minutes.com reports.

Without dermoscopy, the exam took 70 seconds and remained the same per patient despite total lesion count.