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Smartphone Lung Auscultation in Pediatrics: feasibility and acceptance by end-users
Catarina Santos-Silva;
Henrique Ferreira-Cardoso;
Sónia Silva;
Pedro Vieira-Marques;
José Valente;
Rute Almeida;
João Almeida Fonseca;
Cristina Santos;
Inês Azevedo;
Cristina Jácome
ABSTRACT
Background:
Using a smartphone built-in microphone for auscultation is a feasible alternative to the stetho-scope when applied by physicians.
Objective:
We now aim to assess the feasibility of this technology by parents, the real intended end-users.
Methods:
During medical appointments at a Pediatric department of a tertiary hospital, physicians recruit-ed 46 children (72% male, 11.3±3.1years; 52% with asthma). Smartphone auscultation using an app was recorded twice in 4 locations (trachea, right anterior chest, right and left lung bases), first by a physician (n=297 recordings) and later by a parent (n=344 recordings). All recordings (n=641) were classified by 3 annotators regarding its quality and presence of adventitious sounds.
Results:
Parents answered a questionnaire to give feedback about the app, using a 1-5 Likert scale (5-totally agree). Most recordings had quality (85% physicians, 77% parents). The proportion of ad-ventitious sounds (13% and 12%) were similar in the physicians’ and parents’ recordings. The parents found the app easy to use (median[Q1-Q3] 5 [5-5]) and were willing to use it (median 5 [5-5]).
Conclusions:
Our results show that smartphone auscultation was feasible when used by parents in the clinical context, but further investigation is required to test its feasibility in real life.