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🧑🏼‍💻 Research - December 15, 2024

Artificial intelligence in the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review.

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⚡ Quick Summary

A recent systematic review highlights the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing chronic diseases among children and adolescents. The findings suggest that while AI applications are promising, most studies are based on retrospective data, indicating a need for further prospective clinical research.

🔍 Key Details

  • 📊 Studies Reviewed: 31 original studies and conference abstracts
  • 🧩 Focus: AI applications in pediatric chronic disease care
  • ⚙️ Technologies Used: Various AI methods for disease classification, outcome prediction, and decision support
  • 🏆 Performance: Generally positive results, though primarily based on retrospective data

🔑 Key Takeaways

  • 🤖 AI integration in healthcare is on the rise, with numerous applications being developed.
  • 📈 AI tools have shown promise in mental health analysis, utilizing speech and social media data.
  • 🔍 Most studies reviewed were small-scale, emphasizing the need for larger, prospective studies.
  • 🌐 Ethical considerations and cultural influences must be addressed in future AI research.
  • 💡 AI applications include disease classification, outcome prediction, and decision support.
  • 🧑‍⚕️ Stakeholder attitudes play a crucial role in the successful implementation of AI in pediatric care.

📚 Background

The integration of artificial intelligence into healthcare is transforming the way chronic diseases are diagnosed and managed, particularly in vulnerable populations such as children and adolescents. Chronic diseases can significantly impact the quality of life, making effective management essential. AI offers innovative solutions to enhance monitoring and treatment strategies, potentially leading to better health outcomes.

🗒️ Study

This systematic review aimed to analyze the current landscape of AI applications in the care of pediatric patients with chronic diseases. Researchers conducted extensive searches across five major electronic databases, including Medline and Scopus, and included various types of studies that focused on AI’s role in chronic disease management. The review ultimately included 31 studies that met the inclusion criteria.

📈 Results

The review found that AI applications are diverse, with capabilities ranging from disease classification to outcome prediction and decision support. While AI generally performed well in these areas, it is important to note that most models were tested on retrospective data, which may limit their applicability in real-world clinical settings. Additionally, AI tools have shown particular promise in analyzing mental health through innovative methods such as speech sampling and social media data.

🌍 Impact and Implications

The findings of this review underscore the potential of AI to revolutionize the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases. By improving monitoring and treatment strategies, AI could lead to enhanced patient outcomes and more personalized care. However, the need for larger, prospective studies is critical to validate these findings and ensure that AI applications are effective in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, addressing ethical considerations and stakeholder attitudes will be essential for successful implementation.

🔮 Conclusion

This systematic review highlights the significant potential of AI in pediatric chronic disease management. While the current research landscape is promising, it is clear that more extensive, prospective studies are needed to fully understand the effectiveness of AI applications in clinical practice. As we move forward, integrating ethical considerations and stakeholder perspectives will be vital in harnessing the full potential of AI in healthcare.

💬 Your comments

What are your thoughts on the integration of AI in managing chronic diseases among children and adolescents? We would love to hear your insights! 💬 Share your comments below or connect with us on social media:

Artificial intelligence in the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review.

Abstract

UNLABELLED: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has shown potential for various applications in the medical field, particularly for diagnosing and managing chronic diseases among children and adolescents. This systematic review aims to comprehensively analyze and synthesize research on the use of AI for monitoring, guiding, and assisting pediatric patients with chronic diseases. Five major electronic databases were searched (Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, ACM, Web of Science), along with manual searches of gray literature, personal archives, and reference lists of relevant papers. All original studies as well as conference abstracts and proceedings, focusing on AI applications for pediatric chronic disease care were included. Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. We extracted AI method used, study design, population, intervention, and main results. Two researchers independently extracted data and resolved discrepancies through discussion. AI applications are diverse, encompassing, e.g., disease classification, outcome prediction, or decision support. AI generally performed well, though most models were tested on retrospective data. AI-based tools have shown promise in mental health analysis, e.g., by using speech sampling or social media data to predict therapy outcomes for various chronic conditions.
CONCLUSIONS: While AI holds potential in pediatric chronic disease care, most reviewed studies are small-scale research projects. Prospective clinical implementations are needed to validate its effectiveness in real-world scenarios. Ethical considerations, cultural influences, and stakeholder attitudes should be integrated into future research.
WHAT IS KNOWN: • Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a more dominant role in medicine and healthcare in the future and many applications are already being developed.
WHAT IS NEW: • Our review provides an overview on how AI-driven systems might be able to support children and adolescents with chronic illnesses. • While many applications are being researched, few have been tested on real-world, prospective, clinical data.

Author: [‘Kerth JL’, ‘Hagemeister M’, ‘Bischops AC’, ‘Reinhart L’, ‘Dukart J’, ‘Heinrichs B’, ‘Eickhoff SB’, ‘Meissner T’]

Journal: Eur J Pediatr

Citation: Kerth JL, et al. Artificial intelligence in the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review. Artificial intelligence in the care of children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review. 2024; 184:83. doi: 10.1007/s00431-024-05846-3

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