Preliminary Analysis of the Melanoma Multimedia Educational programme for general practitioners on behalf of the Italian Melanoma Intergroup

Introduction.According to the National Oncological Plan 2023-2027 on the importance of multidisciplinary and interactive e-learning training, the Italian Melanoma Intergroup (IMI) has developed MelaMEd (Melanoma Multimedia Education),a national project for general practitioners (GPs) on the prevention and detection of cutaneous melanoma through anonline platform and an online course. MelaMEd enables participants to (1) recognize skin lesions that requirespecialist dermatological assessment, (2) select patients at high risk of melanoma and (3) be informed of the diagnosisand treatment pathway of patients with melanoma.

Methods.A free online platform and online course were developed and launched in June 2022. Before starting the course,enrolled participants fill out a pre-training questionnaire concerning the basic knowledge of the disease and therecognition and management of suspicious lesions. After the course, participants will fill out the same questionnaireagain. The online course will end in December 2023. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the pre-training results(January 2023-July 2023). The data have been analyzed descriptively.

Results.So far, five healthcare centers have participated in the project for a total of 1320 participants. Of these, 298 compiledthe pre-training questionnaire. Forty-seven percent of them were aged <40 years. Respondents were almost dividedbetween GPs (47%) and resident GPs (48%). Among the theoretical questions, the “ABCDE” rule and “ugly duckling”sign are well known (96% and 91% of correct answers, respectively), but a lower percentage (68%) of respondentsknows the “EFG” rule for the recognition of nodular melanomas and the statement of Breslow thickness (29%).Regarding the series of clinical images of pigmented skin lesions and their management, the percentages rate ofaccuracy varied from 33% to 87%: melanoma (5 cases) ranges from 36% to 71%, melanocytic nevi (3 cases) from 33%to 84%, whereas the percentages rate of referral for dermatological evaluation varied from 44% to 99%. Melanomacases referred to dermatologist ranges from 67% to 99%.

Conclusions.This preliminary analysis on pre-training questionnaire mainly showed a lack of knowledge of the two major points ofmelanoma diagnosis (EFG) and management (Breslow thickness), as well as a low rate of participants. We willcompare the proportions of correct answers to the questionnaires before and after the course once available.