Should the Workload of Combining Clinical Practice With Data Collection be Considered: A Survey of Physicians With Data Collection Experience

Aim: To survey the physician's attention to the workload of combining clinical practice with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) data collection. Background: With the development of artificial intelligence technology in the medical field, the task of collecting diverse clinical data in TCM has increased. Based on the TCM's diagnostic and treatment principles, the collection of research data accompanying clinical practice is inevitable, which may have an impact on TCM clinical practice. Method: A previous research was conducted to collect diverse instant TCM diagnostic and treatment data, and physicians and research designers proposed many suggestions focusing on the workload of combining clinical practice with TCM data collection. In this study, A 54-item questionnaire was developed based on the suggestions. Forty-eight participants with data-collection experience participated in a questionnaire survey, and they needed to grade each item, which reflected their attention to the workload of combining clinical practice with TCM data collection. Results: The survey received 40 valid questionnaires, with 49 items scoring 4 or above. Three items in the content dimension (Q9, Q10, Q11) and two items in the spatial dimension (Q31, Q48) are scored lower. Additionally, 25 supplementary suggestions were collected during the study. Conclusion: The workload of combining clinical practice with TCM data collection needs to be considered. The items in this survey could be regarded as a basis for developing a tool to consider the relationship between clinical practice and data collection.