Factors Facilitating the Acceptance of Diagnostic Robots in Healthcare: A Survey

Objectives: Health systems worldwide experience limited resources, highlighting the need for automation in health-care. Diagnostic robots could aid health professionals in areas which currently require human skills. In this study, we investigate factors facilitating the acceptance of robots for diagnostic work-up in healthcare in Denmark. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey study on a cohort representative for the adult population in Denmark. It comprised an electronic questionnaire sent to adults (≥18 years) living in Denmark. Results: Among 1009 included persons, 55% (n=553) would accept to be diagnosed by a robot while 20 % (n=202) did not accept, and 25% (n=254) did not know. Persons who would accept robots were younger than those who would not or “did not know”, (mean±SD) 47 years±17 versus 50 years±17, p=0.03; and had higher level of education, p<0.001. Among the 254 persons who initially “did not know”, 91 % would accept robots under one of the given premises that it was nearly as good as, equally good as or better than a human MD - raising the overall acceptance to 77% (780/1009). Conclusions: This study indicates that education and experience with information technology are important factors for facilitating the diffusion of diagnostic robots in healthcare. Moreover, premises about the performance of the diagnostic robot, reduced waiting time and increased personal contact time with health care professionals facilitated acceptance.