More than a third of French people over the age of fifteen are affected by a skin disease. However, due to excessively long appointment times, almost half of these patients refuse to consult a dermatologist.
The Sanofi laboratory reveals the results of a study, carried out in collaboration with Ifop, on “The French face skin diseases and eczema“. She highlights the refusal of patients to consult a dermatologist, due to waiting times that are too long to obtain an appointment.
More than half of patients give up treating their skin problems
Even though they suffer from a pathology that has a real impact on their social life, patients affected by a skin disease (including severe eczema) refuse to consult a dermatologist. The reason ? Waiting times that continue to lengthen, year after year. The survey reports that 73% of French people judge “difficult access to care provided by dermatologists”a trend that has been increasing sharply for 12 years.
The average time to obtain an appointment is estimated at three months, but this varies greatly depending on the region. It has also increased significantly over time: from 41 days in 2012, it increased to 104 days. And paradoxically, it is those who need it the most who give up: 90% of people affected by severe eczema do not go to the dermatologist.
Are you living in a medical desert?
On the Territorial Observatory website, there is a map showing the number of private dermatologists per 100,000 inhabitants. The data is from 2020 but remains relevant. Thanks to colors, we can quickly visualize the worst-off areas which we rightly call “medical deserts”.
These are mainly the regions furthest from large cities, while the latter have around ten, or sometimes more, dermatology specialists per 100,000 inhabitants. An imbalance which is likely to worsen in the years to come.
Nearly one in two French people are self-conscious about their skin
This survey also shows that nearly one in two French people admit to being self-conscious about their skin, a phenomenon accentuated by social networks. Indeed, “nearly half of women (45%), and up to 80% of people with severe atopic dermatitis, have refused to post photos on social media due to the negative outlook on their skin“. But these people do not escape mockery in real life, especially the youngest during their schooling: 73% of them have already suffered it during their school career.