{"doi":"10.1016/j.jdin.2023.05.010","title":"Dermatology patient perspectives regarding consent, privacy, security, and identifiability of clinical photography at a tertiary cancer center: A qualitative study","abstract":"To the Editor: Despite widespread use of photography, data on patient attitudes towards photography is scarce1Leger M.C. Wu T. Haimovic A. et al.Patient perspectives on medical photography in dermatology.Dermatol Surg. 2014; 40: 1028-1037https://doi.org/10.1097/01.DSS.0000452632.22081.79Crossref PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar and practices regarding use of photographs, consent guidelines, or deidentification are not standardized.2Harting M.T. DeWees J.M. Vela K.M. Khirallah R.T. Medical photography: current technology, evolving issues and legal perspectives.Int J Clin Pract. 2015; 69: 401-409https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12627Crossref PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar,3Roberts E.A. Troiano C. Spiegel J.H. Standardization of guidelines for patient photograph deidentification.Ann Plast Surg. 2016; 76: 611-614https://doi.org/10.1097/SAP.0000000000000817Crossref PubMed Scopus (12) Google Scholar We performed a qualitative study to elucidate patients’ experiences with photography and perspectives on photography consent, privacy, security, and identifiability. After Institutional Review Board exemption from approval, English-speaking patients over the age of 18 undergoing in-room clinical photography (IRCP) or 3D-total body photography (3D-TBP) using Vectra WB360 system in the Memorial Sloan Kettering dermatology clinic from December 2019-September 2020 were eligible for enrollment. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured guide, consisting of a loosely predetermined framework allowing for open-ended discussion, based on a framework by Kallio et al (Supplementary Fig 1, available via Mendeley at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdin.2023.05.010).4Kallio H. Pietilä A.-M. Johnson M. Kangasniemi M. Systematic methodological review: developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide.J Adv Nurs. 2016; 72: 2954-2965https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13031Crossref PubMed Scopus (823) Google Scholar Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Deidentified transcripts were coded, or segmented into themes or concepts, based on grounded theory (Fig 1).5Foley G. Timonen V. Using grounded theory method to capture and analyze health care experiences.Health Serv Res. 2015; 50: 1195-1210https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12275Crossref PubMed Scopus (191) Google Scholar The codes were continuously refined until thematic saturation, or point at which no new themes or relationships between themes could be identified, and consensus were reached. Each interview transcript was analyzed for frequency of each code, for which inter-rater reliability using Cohen’s κ coefficient was 0.87. Thirty-nine patients were approached, and 18 were recruited (49%) in 2 groups: 3D-TBP (n = 9) and IRCP (n = 9) (Table I). Median age was 59 (range 24-84). Five were male (28%) and 13 were female (72%). One participant self-reported as African American/Black, 1 Asian, and 16 White. Indications for photography included skin cancer history (n = 13, 72%), alopecia (n = 1, 6%), and rash (n = 4, 22%).Table IPatient characteristicsCharacteristicsNo. (%)IRCP (n = 9)3D-TBP (n = 9)Overall (n = 18)Age, mean (range), y61 (29-84)52 (24-74)57 (24-84)Sex Women6 (67)7 (78)13 (72) Men3 (33)2 (22)5 (28)Race African American or Black1 (6)0 (0)1 (6) Asian1 (6)0 (0)1 (6) White7 (78)9 (100)16 (89)Ethnicity Non-Hispanic9 (100)9 (100)18 (100) Hispanic0 (0)0 (0)0 (0)Clinical indications for photography Skin cancer5 (56)8 (89)13 (72)Melanoma4 (44)6 (67)10Non-melanoma skin cancers only1 (11)2 (22)3 Rash (drug-related; cutaneous lymphoma)3 (33)1 (11)4 (22) Alopecia1 (11)0 (0)1 (6)Number of years since the most recent skin cancer Never1 (11)3 (33)4 (22) <1 y1 (11)4 (44)5 (28) 1-5 y3 (33)1 (11)4 (22) >5 y3 (33)1 (11)4 (22) Unknown1 (11)0 (0)1 (6)# of 3D-TBP taken prior None8 (89)7 (78)15 (83) Once1 (11)2 (22)3 (33)Educational level High school diploma/GED1 (11)0 (0)1 (6) Some college, no degree2 (22)1 (11)3 (17) Completed college3 (33)3 (33)6 (33) Graduate or professional degree","journal":"JAAD International","year":2023,"id":381961,"datarank":0.20794415416798362,"base_score":1.3862943611198906,"endowment":1.3862943611198906,"self_citation_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.20794415416798362,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":3,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.953,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":797339,"name":"Mary Sun","orcid":"0000-0003-3964-3858","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":873871,"name":"Lilly Gu","orcid":"0000-0002-0271-1880","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1023929,"name":"Trina Salvador","orcid":"0009-0009-2346-0660","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":963049,"name":"Liliane Sar-Graycar","orcid":"0000-0002-5944-7451","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":500612,"name":"Jennifer L. Hay","orcid":"0000-0002-3492-9331","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":824838,"name":"Elizabeth Quigley","orcid":"0000-0002-3474-5348","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":347686,"name":"Michael A. Marchetti","orcid":"0000-0002-1793-1851","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":366217,"name":"Allan C. Halpern","orcid":"0000-0001-7320-1901","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":620922,"name":"Veronica Rotemberg","orcid":"0000-0003-0639-2677","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":729531,"name":"Yuna Oh","orcid":"0000-0001-7747-9089","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":5,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:17:12.933204Z","pmid":"37409316","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}