Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare of older people

Abstract

Clinical applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare are relatively rare. The high expectations in relation to data analysis influencing general healthcare have not materialized, with few exceptions, and then predominantly in the field of rare diseases, oncology and pathology, and interpretation of laboratory results. While electronic health records, introduced over the last decade or so in the UK have increased access to medical and treatment histories of patients, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, laboratory and test results, these have potential for evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care, as well as streamline workflow. In the following text, we review the advances achieved using machine learning and deep learning technology, as well as robot use and telemedicine in the healthcare of older people.

Key points: 1. Artificial Intelligence use is extensively explored in prevention, diagnosis, novel drug designs and after-care. 2. AI studies on older adults include a small number of patients and lack reproducibility needed for their wider clinical use in different clinical settings and larger populations. 3. Telemedicine and robot assisted technology are well received by older service users. 4. Ethical concerns need to be resolved prior to wider AI use in routine clinical setting.