Study Uncovers Design Flaws in Symptom-Checking Apps

These days, millions of people go online to seek medical advice. Using chatbot symptom checker (“CSC”) apps, many share their symptoms and get potential diagnoses through the apps, all without having to visit a doctor.

Compared to a trip to the doctor, are these apps better?

According to a new study from Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, researchers discovered that CSC apps do not have the proper support system needed for the full diagnostic process like that of a traditional visit to your doctor. The apps support only about 5 processes of an actual doctor’s exam i.e.

1. Establishment of patient’s history
2. Evaluation of symptoms
3. Giving an initial diagnosis
4. Ordering further diagnostic tests
5. Providing referrals or follow-up treatments

Yue You, the lead author of the study who is also a graduate student in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, says that the apps:

1. Do not support the conduction of a physical exam
2. They cannot provide a final diagnosis
3. They cannot perform and analyze test results

This is mainly because these processes are difficult to carry out using a mobile app.

The researchers also explored the functionalities of the most popular CSC apps in the study. This was done using a feature review after which they analyzed user reviews by examining user experiences and conducting user interviews. You and her team determined in the user experience analysis, that users found CSC apps lacking in comprehensible questions, flexible symptom input, the support of a comprehensive medical history and also diverse user groups and diseases.

These findings could be used to make the relevant conversational and function design updates in healthcare chatbots, like using understandable language and providing explanations during conversations with a patient or improving how users can input their symptoms.

The findings can also help individuals better understand the influence of artificial intelligence technology, like how artificial intelligence may change or influence traditional medical visits.

You added that in the past, doctors were generally the most trusted when it came to all matters disease. However, with the emergence of the internet and AI symptom checkers, people have at their disposal more sources of information. People should ask themselves, does this information challenge doctors? If yes, how? Also, do people trust the information they get online? If yes, why? The work her team did, she says, is just the starting point of the influence of AI symptom checkers.

The teams’ findings will be presented in November at the AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association) Virtual Annual Symposium.

This discovery about symptom-checking bots is likely to be of great interest to biomedical companies like 180 Life Sciences Corp.

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