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. 2023 Feb;143(2):621-625.
doi: 10.1007/s00402-021-04080-y. Epub 2021 Aug 4.

A clinical decision support system in back pain helps to find the diagnosis: a prospective correlation study

Achim Benditz  1 , Loreto C Pulido  2 , Joachim Grifka  2 , Fabian Ripke  3 , Petra Jansen  4
Affiliations

A clinical decision support system in back pain helps to find the diagnosis: a prospective correlation study

Achim Benditz et al. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to show the concordance of an app-based decision support system and the diagnosis given by spinal surgeons in cases of back pain. 86 patients took part within 2 months. They were seen by spine surgeons in the daily routine and then completed an app-based questionnaire that also led to a diagnosis independently. The results showed a Cramer's V = .711 (p < .001), which can be taken as a strong relation between the tool and the diagnosis of the medical doctor. Besides, in 67.4% of the cases, the diagnosis was concordant. An overestimation of the severity of the diagnosis occurred more often than underestimation (15.1% vs. 7%). The app-based tool is a safe tool to support healthcare professionals in back pain diagnosis.

Keywords: App-based decision; Back pain; Decision support system; Symptom checker.

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Conflict of interest statement

The development of the decision support system was financially sponsored by Allianz Digital Health GmbH. As it can be seen in the affiliations, one author is employed by this company and was therefore not involved in statistics or data acquisition. The authors declare that they have no further competing financial or non-financial interests.

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