Supplementary Table S2.
Definitions in this study
| Definition of clinical suspicion group |
| 1. High clinical suspicion of cutaneous fungal infection: |
| a. The dermatologist recommended to start topical or systemic antifungal treatment before the result of the KOH smear was available, for the purposes of treating the suspected cutaneous fungal infection, without specifying to stop treatment in the event of a negative KOH smear. |
| b. The dermatologist starts treatment with topical or systemic antifungal for clinically diagnosed cutaneous fungal infection despite a negative KOH smear |
| 2. Medium clinical suspicion of cutaneous fungal infection: |
| a. The dermatologist recommended to start topical or systemic antifungal treatment before the result of KOH smear was available, for the purposes of treating the suspected cutaneous fungal infection, but specified on initial documentation to stop treatment in the event of a negative KOH smear. |
| b. The dermatologist recommended to wait for the KOH smear result and to start treatment in accordance with the result. |
| 3. Low clinical suspicion of cutaneous fungal infection: |
| a. The dermatologist does not start topical or systemic antifungal until he/she has reviewed the KOH result and made a revised diagnosis. |
| b. The dermatologist recommended to start treatment for an alternative diagnosis that was deemed likelier, before the result of the KOH smear. This may include conditions that are also sometimes treated with antifungal agents but are not considered cutaneous fungal infections, such as seborrheic dermatitis. |
| Definition of topical antifungal agent |
| - The following classes of antifungals were classified under antifungal treatment in this study: |
| • Imidazoles |
| • Polyenes |
| • Thiocarbamates |
| • Benzoxaborole |
| • Ciclopirox olamine |
| • Morpholine |
| - Broad-spectrum antiseptics such as fucidic acid, clioquinol, mupirocin were not considered to be antifungal treatments. |
| - In cases where combination creams were used, each separate active ingredient was documented accordingly, for example, miconazole with hydrocortisone would have been documented as both topical steroid and topical antifungal. |