A 35-Year Longitudinal Analysis of Dermatology Patient Behavior across Economic & Cultural Manifestations in Tunisia, and the Impact of Digital Tools

Abstract

The evolution of behavior of dermatology patients has seen significantly accelerated change over the past decade, driven by surging availability and adoption of digital tools and platforms. Through our longitudinal analysis of this behavior within Tunisia over a 35-year time frame, we identify behavioral patterns across economic and cultural dimensions and how digital tools have impacted those patterns in preceding years. Throughout this work, we highlight the witnessed effects of available digital tools as experienced by patients, and conclude by presenting a vision for how future tools can help address the issues identified across economic and cultural manifestations. Our analysis is further framed around three types of digital tools: "Dr. Google", social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and across three stages of clinical care: pre-visit, in-visit, and post-visit.