scholarly journals Patients’ Utilization and Perception of an Artificial Intelligence–Based Symptom Assessment and Advice Technology in a British Primary Care Waiting Room: Exploratory Pilot Study

10.2196/19713 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. e19713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Miller ◽  
Stephen Gilbert ◽  
Vishaal Virani ◽  
Paul Wicks

Background When someone needs to know whether and when to seek medical attention, there are a range of options to consider. Each will have consequences for the individual (primarily considering trust, convenience, usefulness, and opportunity costs) and for the wider health system (affecting clinical throughput, cost, and system efficiency). Digital symptom assessment technologies that leverage artificial intelligence may help patients navigate to the right type of care with the correct degree of urgency. However, a recent review highlighted a gap in the literature on the real-world usability of these technologies. Objective We sought to explore the usability, acceptability, and utility of one such symptom assessment technology, Ada, in a primary care setting. Methods Patients with a new complaint attending a primary care clinic in South London were invited to use a custom version of the Ada symptom assessment mobile app. This exploratory pilot study was conducted between November 2017 and January 2018 in a practice with 20,000 registered patients. Participants were asked to complete an Ada self-assessment about their presenting complaint on a study smartphone, with assistance provided if required. Perceptions on the app and its utility were collected through a self-completed study questionnaire following completion of the Ada self-assessment. Results Over a 3-month period, 523 patients participated. Most were female (n=325, 62.1%), mean age 39.79 years (SD 17.7 years), with a larger proportion (413/506, 81.6%) of working-age individuals (aged 15-64) than the general population (66.0%). Participants rated Ada’s ease of use highly, with most (511/522, 97.8%) reporting it was very or quite easy. Most would use Ada again (443/503, 88.1%) and agreed they would recommend it to a friend or relative (444/520, 85.3%). We identified a number of age-related trends among respondents, with a directional trend for more young respondents to report Ada had provided helpful advice (50/54, 93%, 18-24-year olds reported helpful) than older respondents (19/32, 59%, adults aged 70+ reported helpful). We found no sex differences on any of the usability questions fielded. While most respondents reported that using the symptom checker would not have made a difference in their care-seeking behavior (425/494, 86.0%), a sizable minority (63/494, 12.8%) reported they would have used lower-intensity care such as self-care, pharmacy, or delaying their appointment. The proportion was higher for patients aged 18-24 (11/50, 22%) than aged 70+ (0/28, 0%). Conclusions In this exploratory pilot study, the digital symptom checker was rated as highly usable and acceptable by patients in a primary care setting. Further research is needed to confirm whether the app might appropriately direct patients to timely care, and understand how this might save resources for the health system. More work is also needed to ensure the benefits accrue equally to older age groups.

Author(s):  
Stephen Miller ◽  
Stephen Gilbert ◽  
Vishaal Virani ◽  
Paul Wicks

BACKGROUND When someone needs to know whether and when to seek medical attention, there are a range of options to consider. Each will have consequences for the individual (primarily considering trust, convenience, usefulness, and opportunity costs) and for the wider health system (affecting clinical throughput, cost, and system efficiency). Digital symptom assessment technologies that leverage artificial intelligence may help patients navigate to the right type of care with the correct degree of urgency. However, a recent review highlighted a gap in the literature on the real-world usability of these technologies. OBJECTIVE We sought to explore the usability, acceptability, and utility of one such symptom assessment technology, Ada, in a primary care setting. METHODS Patients with a new complaint attending a primary care clinic in South London were invited to use a custom version of the Ada symptom assessment mobile app. This exploratory pilot study was conducted between November 2017 and January 2018 in a practice with 20,000 registered patients. Participants were asked to complete an Ada self-assessment about their presenting complaint on a study smartphone, with assistance provided if required. Perceptions on the app and its utility were collected through a self-completed study questionnaire following completion of the Ada self-assessment. RESULTS Over a 3-month period, 523 patients participated. Most were female (n=325, 62.1%), mean age 39.79 years (SD 17.7 years), with a larger proportion (413/506, 81.6%) of working-age individuals (aged 15-64) than the general population (66.0%). Participants rated Ada’s ease of use highly, with most (511/522, 97.8%) reporting it was very or quite easy. Most would use Ada again (443/503, 88.1%) and agreed they would recommend it to a friend or relative (444/520, 85.3%). We identified a number of age-related trends among respondents, with a directional trend for more young respondents to report Ada had provided helpful advice (50/54, 93%, 18-24-year olds reported helpful) than older respondents (19/32, 59%, adults aged 70+ reported helpful). We found no sex differences on any of the usability questions fielded. While most respondents reported that using the symptom checker would not have made a difference in their care-seeking behavior (425/494, 86.0%), a sizable minority (63/494, 12.8%) reported they would have used lower-intensity care such as self-care, pharmacy, or delaying their appointment. The proportion was higher for patients aged 18-24 (11/50, 22%) than aged 70+ (0/28, 0%). CONCLUSIONS In this exploratory pilot study, the digital symptom checker was rated as highly usable and acceptable by patients in a primary care setting. Further research is needed to confirm whether the app might appropriately direct patients to timely care, and understand how this might save resources for the health system. More work is also needed to ensure the benefits accrue equally to older age groups.


Hypertension ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin R Echols ◽  
Paula Pollard-Thomas ◽  
Henry Nuss ◽  
Heartley Egwuogu ◽  
Kristen Hobbs ◽  
...  

Background: Hypertension (HTN) is the most potent cardiovascular disease worldwide and a major public health concern in the U.S. Although Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are associated with HTN, it is unclear whether these indicators are routinely captured in the primary care setting. We sought to examine the prevalence of any HTN and its association with captured SDoH for new patients (pts) presenting to an urban community primary care clinic for 2019 and 2020. Methods and Results: We identified a cohort-based, cross-sectional sample of 2,577 new pts ≥ 18 years of age in a community clinic in Atlanta, GA, between Jan 2019 and Dec 2020. Electronic health records were reviewed to determine the rate of selected SDoH indicators (financial strain, transportation, medical transportation, and food insecurity) captured at any time and the presenting blood pressure for all new patients. Blood pressure was classified as follows: normal, systolic BP/diastolic BP (SBP/DBP) ≤120/80 mmHg, elevated SBP 120-129mmHg and DBP<80mm, stage 1 SBP 130-139mmHg or DBP 80-90mmHg, and stage 2 SBP ≥ 140mmHg+ or DBP 90mmHg+. Likelihood-ratio Chi-square tests were analyzed to detect an association between SDOH and stages of HTN. Of the 2,577 pts seen, 93% were African American, 72% were female, 59% were single, 77% had BMI ≥ 25, and 85% were insured. Only 41% (n=1062) pts had information of at least one SDoH measure in the entire cohort. Of the SDoH domains evaluated, financial strain and food insecurity were more likely in new pts with stage 1 HTN or higher (χ2= 16.0, df=8, p=0.04; χ2= 27.7, df=12, p=0.006). Conclusion: Routine assessments of SDoH for African American pts presenting for new pt visits are suboptimal in the primary care setting. However, financial strain and food insecurity are significantly associated with stage 1 and 2 HTN in this population. Standardization of intake processes is essential to increase the collection of SDoH indicators and may ultimately guide secondary prevention strategies for HTN interventions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Waza ◽  
Graham Antonnette ◽  
Zyzanski Stephen ◽  
Kazuo Inoue ◽  
Masato Sasaki ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Croteau ◽  
Vijiayurani Suresh ◽  
Elanna Farnham

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if using physical activity (PA) mentors has any additional impact on daily steps of older adults participating in the Maine in Motion (MIM) program in the primary care setting. Participants were randomly assigned to a MIM-only group (n= 14) or a MIM+ mentor group (n= 14). The MIM intervention lasted 6 months with follow-up at 12 months. Average age of participants was 64 ± 8.8 years and most participants had multiple chronic illnesses. At baseline, mean body mass index (BMI) was 32.2 ± 5.1 and average daily steps were 4,236 ± 2,266. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for steps,F(2.324, 59.104) = 4.168,p= .015, but no main effects for group,F(1, 25) = 2.988,p= .096, or time-by-group interaction,F(2.324, 59.104) = 0.905,p= .151. All participants significantly increased daily steps over the course of the intervention, with MIM+ participants maintaining increases at follow-up. No significant findings were found for BMI.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Palanivel ◽  
TK Pruthu ◽  
MarieGilbert Majella ◽  
Divya Nair ◽  
Gomathi Ramaswamy ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ursin ◽  
Cristian Timmermann ◽  
Marcin Orzechowski ◽  
Florian Steger

Purpose: The method of diagnosing diabetic retinopathy (DR) through artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems has been commercially available since 2018. This introduces new ethical challenges with regard to obtaining informed consent from patients. The purpose of this work is to develop a checklist of items to be disclosed when diagnosing DR with AI systems in a primary care setting.Methods: Two systematic literature searches were conducted in PubMed and Web of Science databases: a narrow search focusing on DR and a broad search on general issues of AI-based diagnosis. An ethics content analysis was conducted inductively to extract two features of included publications: (1) novel information content for AI-aided diagnosis and (2) the ethical justification for its disclosure.Results: The narrow search yielded n = 537 records of which n = 4 met the inclusion criteria. The information process was scarcely addressed for primary care setting. The broad search yielded n = 60 records of which n = 11 were included. In total, eight novel elements were identified to be included in the information process for ethical reasons, all of which stem from the technical specifics of medical AI.Conclusions: Implications for the general practitioner are two-fold: First, doctors need to be better informed about the ethical implications of novel technologies and must understand them to properly inform patients. Second, patient's overconfidence or fears can be countered by communicating the risks, limitations, and potential benefits of diagnostic AI systems. If patients accept and are aware of the limitations of AI-aided diagnosis, they increase their chances of being diagnosed and treated in time.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 1677-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne B Haga ◽  
Nancy M Allen LaPointe ◽  
Alex Cho ◽  
Shelby D Reed ◽  
Rachel Mills ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Asia Sikora Kessler ◽  
Gabrielle Mock ◽  
Diane Hendricks ◽  
Laura Robbins ◽  
Harpriya Kaur ◽  
...  

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