Staff acceptability and patient usability of a self-screening kiosk for atrial fibrillation in general practice waiting rooms

Background: Current Australian and European guidelines recommend opportunistic screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) among patients ≥65 years, but general practitioners (GPs) report time constraints as a major barrier to achieving this. Patient self-screening stations in GP waiting rooms may increase screening rates and case detection of AF, but the acceptability of patient self-screening from the practice staff perspective, and the usability by patients, is unknown.

Objective: To determine staff perspectives on AF self-screening stations and factors impacting acceptability, usability by patients, and sustainability.

Methods: We performed semi-structured interviews with 20 general practice staff and observations of 22 patients while they were undertaking self-screening. Interviews were coded and data analyzed using an iterative thematic analysis approach.

Results: GPs indicated high levels of acceptance of self-screening, and reported little impact on their workflow. Reception staff recognized the importance of screening for AF, but reported significant impacts on their workflow because some patients were unable to perform screening without assistance. Patient observations corroborated these findings and suggested some potential ways to improve usability.

Conclusion: AF self-screening in GP waiting rooms may be a viable method to increase opportunistic screening by GPs, but the impacts on reception workflow need to be mitigated for the method to be upscaled for more widespread screening. Furthermore, more age-appropriate station design may increase patient usability and thereby also reduce impact on reception workflow.