Parents Largely Comfortable with Artificial Intelligence Use in Pediatric Care

Despite a slight inconsistency in satisfaction rates among different ethnic groups, a study from Academic Pediatrics reported a relatively high rate of approval from parents regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pediatrics. 

The study consisted of a survey polling 1,620 parents within a big city in the US, all of whom had a child receiving treatment for a respiratory illness that involved the use of AI. Researchers used a population-weighted household panel survey method.

Researchers found that most respondents indicated a relatively high level of comfort in AI-based computer programs being used for various clinical processes in the emergency department. These included antibiotics (77.6 percent), bloodwork (76.5 percent), and the interpretation of radiographs (77.5 percent).

Despite parents' relatively high level of comfort, researchers found that parents within certain demographics were not as trusting of AI.

Compared to White non-Hispanic parents, Black non-Hispanic parents indicated lower levels of comfort with AI. Younger parents (18 to 25 years) also reported lower comfort with AI than parents 46 and older.

Researchers also asked survey participants about the benefits and potential downsides of AI.

Regarding benefits, most cited detecting factors a human may miss and quicker time to diagnoses as significant advantages of AI use.

Common areas of concern included diagnostic errors and recommendations for incorrect treatment.

"Our results suggest that development of AI tools to improve the care of children in an acute care setting needs to involve a diverse set of patient and parent stakeholders early on in the process to ensure that they are comfortable with the technology and that the new tools do not contain unintentional bias," said study lead author Sriram Ramgopal, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, in the press release.

Recently, various studies have shown that AI use can improve care for both pediatric and adult patients.

A study from March indicated that using machine learning-driven workflows enhanced the ordering of tests within pediatric emergency departments. The models were helpful, particularly for determining the need for services, including dipstick testing, electrocardiogram, abdominal ultrasonography, bilirubin level testing, and forearm radiographs. After analyzing the data of thousands of pediatric patients, researchers determined that using machine learning-based medical directives was helped streamline care.

Further, a recent study showed that an artificial AI-based medical device can assist clinicians in primary care settings in accurately diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children up to 6 years old. The tool provides recommendations for the primary care provider after analyzing behavioral features from a caregiver questionnaire, a provider questionnaire, and two short home videos.