Table 3.
Accuracy of diagnosis given and triage advice for all symptom checkers given certain characteristics of the tools
| Symptom checker characteristics | All symptom checkers | Diagnosis | Triage | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of symptom checkers (%) | Listed first | P value | Listed in top 20 | P value | No of symptom checkers (%) | Rate* | % (95% Cl) | P value | |||||
| Rate* | % (95% Cl) | Rate* | % (95% Cl) | ||||||||||
| All symptom checkers | 23 (100) | 19 (100) | 262/770 | 34 (31 to 37) | 449/770 | 58 (55 to 62) | — | 15 (100) | 301/532 | 57 (52 to 61) | |||
| Uses nurse triage books?†: | |||||||||||||
| Yes | 2 (9) | 0 (0) | 0 | —‡ | —‡ | 0 | —‡ | —‡ | 2 (13) | 41/57 | 72 (60 to 84) | 0.01 | |
| No | 21 (91) | 19 (100) | 262/770 | 34 (31 to 37) | 449/770 | 58 (55 to 62) | 13 (87) | 260/475 | 55 (50 to 59) | ||||
| Asks demographic questions?: | |||||||||||||
| Yes | 14 (61) | 12 (63) | 157/458 | 34 (30 to 39) | 0.88 | 275/458 | 60 (56 to 65) | 0.24 | 9 (60) | 162/319 | 51 (45 to 56) | <0.001 | |
| No | 9 (39) | 7 (37) | 105/312 | 34 (28 to 39) | 174/312 | 56 (50 to 61) | 6 (40) | 139/213 | 65 (59 to 72) | ||||
| Site owner: | |||||||||||||
| Health plan or government | 3 (13) | 1 (5) | 16/44 | 36 (22 to 51) | 34/44 | 77 (64 to 90) | 0.01 | 3 (20) | 56/131 | 43 (34 to 51) | <0.001 | ||
| Provider group | 4 (17) | 5 (26) | 56/167 | 34 (26 to 41) | 0.9 | 104/167 | 62 (55 to 70) | 4 (27) | 65/96 | 68 (58 to 77) | |||
| Private Company | 14 (61) | 13 (68) | 190/559 | 34 (30 to 38) | 311/559 | 56 (52 to 60) | 8 (53) | 180/305 | 59 (53 to 65) | ||||
| Maximum No of diagnoses listed: | |||||||||||||
| 1-3 | 6 (32) | 6 (32) | 78/227 | 34 (28 to 41) | 120/227 | 53 (46 to 59) | 0.12 | 5 (33) | 87/163 | 53 (46 to 60) | 0.32 | ||
| 4-10 | 7 (37) | 7 (37) | 107/283 | 38 (32 to 43) | 0.13 | 175/283 | 62 (56 to 68) | 6 (40) | 131/224 | 58 (52 to 65) | |||
| ≥11 | 6 (32) | 6 (32) | 77/260 | 30 (24 to 35) | 154/260 | 59 (53 to 65) | 4 (27) | —§ | —§ | ||||
*Number of correct SP evaluations divided by applicable SP evaluations. Some SP vignettes could not be applied to a given symptom checker. For example, we could not evaluate an SP vignette aimed at adults if the symptom checker was for children.
†From the Schmitt or Thompson protocols.
‡Symptom checker does not provide suggestions for diagnosis.
§Symptom checker does not provide triage advice.