Representation of Skin Color, Disease Severity, and Anatomic Location in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Images

Abstract

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory dermatosis disproportionately affecting patients of color. We evaluated characteristics of HS images in dermatology online image resources and textbooks. Methods: Images of HS were collected in December 2021 from online and textbook sources. Data regarding anatomic region, Hurley stage, and Fitzpatrick skin tone (FST) were collected and analyzed. Results: 318 images remained after exclusion criteria. VisualDx contained the highest number of dark skin (FST V-VI) images (59%, 47/79), followed by Google (4%, 2/52) and DermNetNZ (4%, 4/100). In textbook sources, dark skin represented 25% (4/16) of images. Across sources, 47% (151/318) of images represented Hurley stage 2, followed by 32% (101/318) stage 3, and 21% (66/318) stage 1. The axilla (49%, 156/318) was the most common anatomic location featured, followed by the groin (18%, 58/318) and breast/chest (9%, 28/318). Involvement of non-classic locations was represented in 3% (8/318) of images. There was a positive correlation between higher Hurley stage and darker skin (r=0.26, p<0.05). Discussion/Conclusion: Overall there is underrepresentation of dark skin tones, “non-classic” anatomic locations, and mild HS which may lead to missed opportunities for patient education and dermatology training. Dermatologists should take the lead to improve image diversity across educational resources.