Feasibility and Acceptability of Pediatric Smartphone Lung Auscultation by Parents: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background The use of a smartphone built-in microphone for auscultation is a feasible alternative to the use of a stethoscope, when applied by physicians. Objective This cross-sectional study aims to assess the feasibility of this technology when used by parents—the real intended end users. Methods Physicians recruited 46 children (male: n=33, 72%; age: mean 11.3, SD 3.1 y; children with asthma: n=24, 52%) during medical visits in a pediatric department of a tertiary hospital. Smartphone auscultation using an app was performed at 4 locations (trachea, right anterior chest, and right and left lung bases), first by a physician (recordings: n=297) and later by a parent (recordings: n=344). All recordings (N=641) were classified by 3 annotators for quality and the presence of adventitious sounds. Parents completed a questionnaire to provide feedback on the app, using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (“totally disagree”) to 5 (“totally agree”). Results Most recordings had quality (physicians’ recordings: 253/297, 85.2%; parents’ recordings: 266/346, 76.9%). The proportions of physicians' recordings (34/253, 13.4%) and parents' recordings (31/266, 11.7%) with adventitious sounds were similar. Parents found the app easy to use (questionnaire: median 5, IQR 5-5) and were willing to use it (questionnaire: median 5, IQR 5-5). Conclusions Our results show that smartphone auscultation is feasible when performed by parents in the clinical context, but further investigation is needed to test its feasibility in real life.