Telephone follow‐up based on artificial intelligence technology among hypertension patients: Reliability study

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) telephone is reliable for the follow‐up and management of hypertensives. It takes less time and is equivalent to manual follow‐up to a high degree. We conducted a reliability study to evaluate the efficiency of AI telephone follow‐up in the management of hypertension. During May 18 and June 30, 2020, 350 hypertensives managed by the Pengpu Community Health Service Center in Shanghai were recruited for follow‐up, once by AI and once by a human. The second follow‐up was conducted within 3–7 days (mean 5.5 days). The mean length time of two calls were compared by paired t ‐test, and Cohen's Kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability of the results between the two follow‐up visits. The mean length time of AI calls was shorter (4.15 min) than that of manual calls (5.24 min, P < .001). The answers related to the symptoms showed moderate to substantial consistency ( κ :.465–.624, P < .001), and those related to the complications showed fair consistency ( κ :.349, P < .001). In terms of lifestyle, the answer related to smoking showed a very high consistency ( κ :.915, P < .001), while those addressing salt consumption, alcohol consumption, and exercise showed moderate to substantial consistency ( κ :.402–.645, P < .001). There was moderate consistency in regular usage of medication ( κ :.484, P < .001).