Amberger Olga Anastasia, Lemke Dorothea, Müller Hardy, Lüttel Dagmar, Schwappach David, Geraedts Max, Müller Beate S
Institute of General Practice, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
Gesundheitsamt Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany.
BMJ Open. 2025 Sep 8;15(9):e100516. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100516.
To explore perceptions of digitalisation and patient safety from the view of the German general public and related sociodemographic factors.
Cross-sectional survey.
A nationwide survey was undertaken in 2024, using data from the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) Monitor of Patient Safety. The TK Monitor of Patient Safety is an annual survey of the population on the state of patient safety in medical care.
1000 German adults (18 years and older).
Ordinal logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations among sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education and household income) and perceptions on digitalisation and patient safety.
The majority of respondents expected benefits from digital applications in healthcare. Over half of the respondents (58%) believed that artificial intelligence (AI) can help reduce complications and errors, while 49% of the respondents believed that the use of AI poses serious new risks for the healthcare sector. The results showed that sociodemographic variables are important factors influencing patient safety perceptions of digitalisation and AI. Female, older, less educated and/or lower-income individuals were less likely to perceive benefits from digital care applications and AI.
In our study, the German public appears to view digital technologies and AI as tools both for improving patient safety and as potential risk factors. Our findings also highlight the importance of analysing sociodemographic factors to identify specific disparities in how different groups are affected by digitalisation. Such analysis is essential for developing targeted strategies that mitigate current patient safety risks, ensuring that digital health solutions are equitable and safe across all demographic groups.
从德国普通公众的视角以及相关社会人口学因素出发，探讨对数字化与患者安全的认知。
横断面调查。
2024年开展了一项全国性调查，使用来自技术人员医疗保险公司（TK）患者安全监测的数据。TK患者安全监测是一项针对医疗保健中患者安全状况的年度人口调查。
1000名德国成年人（18岁及以上）。
进行有序逻辑回归分析，以研究社会人口学因素（年龄、性别、教育程度和家庭收入）与对数字化和患者安全的认知之间的关联。
大多数受访者期望医疗保健中的数字应用能带来益处。超过一半的受访者（58%）认为人工智能（AI）有助于减少并发症和错误，而49%的受访者认为使用AI给医疗保健行业带来了严重的新风险。结果表明，社会人口学变量是影响对数字化和AI的患者安全认知的重要因素。女性、年龄较大、受教育程度较低和/或收入较低的个体不太可能从数字护理应用和AI中感知到益处。
在我们的研究中，德国公众似乎将数字技术和AI视为既有助于提高患者安全又作为潜在风险因素的工具。我们的研究结果还强调了分析社会人口学因素以识别不同群体受数字化影响方式的具体差异的重要性。这种分析对于制定减轻当前患者安全风险的针对性策略至关重要，确保数字健康解决方案在所有人口群体中都是公平且安全的。
