More than three-quarters of parents are comfortable with the use of medical AI to interpret their child’s chest x-rays in an emergency setting, according to a survey-based study published in May by Academic Pediatrics.[1]
The reception was similarly warm among parents toward AI used to assess a child’s emergent need for antibiotics or bloodwork.
Emergency medicine specialists Sriram Ramgopal, MD, Michelle Macy, MD, and colleagues at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago received completed surveys from 1,620 parents of children with respiratory illnesses.
“Family engagement is critical in the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support tools, which will play an increasing role in healthcare in the future,” the authors note.
Their key findings:
- Most respondents were comfortable with the use of computer programs to determine the need for antibiotics (77.6%) or bloodwork (76.5%), and to interpret radiographs (77.5%).
- In multivariable analysis, Black non-Hispanic parents reported greater discomfort with AI relative to White non-Hispanic parents, as did younger parents (18 to 25 years) relative to parents older than 45.
- The greatest perceived benefits of computer programs were finding something a human would miss (64.2%) and obtaining a more rapid diagnosis (59.6%).
- Areas of greatest concern were diagnostic errors (63.0%) and recommending incorrect treatment (58.9%).
In their discussion section, the authors comment that “engagement with stakeholders remains important” if AI tools are to be used to positive effect in pediatric healthcare.
Further, although AI-assisted care is “viewed favorably by parents for their children in the acute care setting, the selection of stakeholder groups for its development and implementation requires a diverse representation,” Ramgopal and co-authors write. “This is particularly important with respect to age and race/ethnicity, the two demographics associated with discomfort in our multivariable model.”
More:
Our findings offer promise in the use of AI in acute care settings and indicate how parent perspectives on AI use may differ in ways that can inform clinicians’ discussions of AI-based decision-making with parents.”
In a news item published by the hospital’s communications team, Ramgopal says AI will sooner or later become standard in routine pediatric practice.
“In the ED, we already use computer-based decision supports systems, which are precursors to AI,” he adds. “[T]hese systems don’t dictate a particular course of action, but rather inform a physician’s approach to care in situations where a human might easily miss an important pattern in how illness presents itself.”
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Reference:
- Sriram Ramgopal, Michelle L. Macy, et al., “Parental perceptions on use of artificial intelligence in pediatric acute care.” Academic Pediatrics, May 13, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.05.006
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.