Assessment of completion of forms requesting skin biopsies

BACKGROUND: Information contained in request forms for histopathological examinations is essential for interpreting tissue changes observed in microscopy. OBJECTIVE: To determine the adequacy of information provided on forms requesting skin biopsies. METHOD: Assessment, in two health institutions, of 647 forms requesting skin biopsies in order to determine the completeness on the forms of the clinical details/items considered necessary for undertaking skin biopsies. RESULTS: Of the total 18 items on the forms, 7 were found to relay complete information in under 10% of the forms and only 9 items were correctly completed in over 80% of the requests. CONCLUSION: We concluded that information on many of the essential items required for a correct interpretation of the anatomopathologic examination was missing from the request forms.