Although definitive therapy for many cutaneous disorders is lacking, the day-to-day observations of clinical practice indicate that dermatologic therapy is becoming increasingly more effective. To many or most dermatologists, it appears that today's dermatologic patients are achieving greater relief or more cures and in less time than in former years.
Are there tangible evidences to support the above concepts? If so, what is the degree of the increased efficiency in the management of dermatoses, and, finally, how shall it be measured?
This report has to do with an attempt to examine, and to quantitate, the relative efficacy of office dermatologic therapy of a restricted group of common dermatoses in 1947-1948 and in 1957-1958. It is, so to speak, a "time study" of dermatologic treatment.
The general plan of the investigation consisted of detailed examination of office records of patients with certain dermatoses treated in 1947-1948 and of a separate but