Perceptions and concerns of emergency medicine practitioners about artificial intelligence in emergency triage management during the pandemic

A national survey-based study

Bibliographic Data

ID22070583
AuthorsErhan Ahun (0009-0008-7379-3458, Amasya Üniversitesi), Ahmet Demir (0000-0002-7857-5598), Ahmet Duran Demir (0000-0002-2513-8757, Muğla University), Yavuz Yiğit (0000-0002-7226-983X, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author), Yasemin Koçer Tulgar (Samsun University), Meltem Dogan (0000-0003-2186-744X, Kocaeli Üniversitesi), David Terence Thomas (0000-0002-8278-5934, Maltepe University), Serkan Tulgar (0000-0003-1996-7505, Samsun University)
Year2023
Volume11
Pages1285390-1285390
Publication date2023-10-26
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2023.1285390
PMID37965502
OpenAlexW4387956115
LanguageEN
References cited34

Objective: There have been continuous discussions over the ethics of using AI in healthcare. We sought to identify the ethical issues and viewpoints of Turkish emergency care doctors about the use of AI during epidemic triage. Materials and methods: Ten emergency specialists were initially enlisted for this project, and their responses to open-ended questions about the ethical issues surrounding AI in the emergency room provided valuable information. A 15-question survey was created based on their input and was refined through a pilot test with 15 emergency specialty doctors. Following that, the updated survey was sent to emergency specialists via email, social media, and private email distribution. Results: 167 emergency medicine specialists participated in the study, with an average age of 38.22 years and 6.79 years of professional experience. The majority agreed that AI could benefit patients (54.50%) and healthcare professionals (70.06%) in emergency department triage during pandemics. Regarding responsibility, 63.47% believed in shared responsibility between emergency medicine specialists and AI manufacturers/programmers for complications. Additionally, 79.04% of participants agreed that the responsibility for complications in AI applications varies depending on the nature of the complication. Concerns about privacy were expressed by 20.36% regarding deep learning-based applications, while 61.68% believed that anonymity protected privacy. Additionally, 70.66% of participants believed that AI systems would be as sensitive as humans in terms of non-discrimination. Conclusion: The potential advantages of deploying AI programs in emergency department triage during pandemics for patients and healthcare providers were acknowledged by emergency medicine doctors in Turkey. Nevertheless, they expressed notable ethical concerns related to the responsibility and accountability aspects of utilizing AI systems in this context

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Disaster medicine · Disease · Emergency management · Medical emergency · Pandemic · Pathology · Perception · Poison control · Political science · Triage · Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education · Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills · COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Psychology

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