Abstract

Introduction Emojis have surpassed facial expressions and they are now widely used to deliver complex concepts by representing graphical expressions in the digital platform. In this study, we endeavored to develop medical emojis for clinical signs and symptoms to be used as tools for text-based counselling.

Methods The present study was conducted using the Delphi method with medical studnets and general practitioners, drawing and discussing in several repeated rounds. For this purpose, about 100 clinical signs/symptoms were considered using the ICD-10 website.

Results In the present study, from one hundred signs and symptoms we reached to 85 signs/symptoms that after first round of sessions were illustrated. Out of these 85 eligible emojis, 4 cases were removed due to the lack of consensus. The rest of the emojis were finalized and prepared by the graphic designer. These emojis then were published online to collect online votes.

Conclusion In this study, we could design up to 81 medical emojis presenting clinical sign and symptoms with acceptable consensus between the participants. These emojis were reasonably acceptable by our panelists in presenting the established clinical concepts.