Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis
Background: Conversational agents, also known as chatbots, are computer programs designed to simulate human text or verbal conversations. They are increasingly used in a range of fields, including health care. By enabling better accessibility, personalization, and efficiency, conversational agents h...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148951 |
| _version_ | 1826121937312546816 |
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| author | Car, Lorainne Tudor Dhinagaran, Dhakshenya Ardhithy Kyaw, Bhone Myint Kowatsch, Tobias Joty, Shafiq Theng, Yin-Leng Atun, Rifat |
| author2 | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) |
| author_facet | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Car, Lorainne Tudor Dhinagaran, Dhakshenya Ardhithy Kyaw, Bhone Myint Kowatsch, Tobias Joty, Shafiq Theng, Yin-Leng Atun, Rifat |
| author_sort | Car, Lorainne Tudor |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Background: Conversational agents, also known as chatbots, are computer programs designed to simulate human text or verbal conversations. They are increasingly used in a range of fields, including health care. By enabling better accessibility, personalization, and efficiency, conversational agents have the potential to improve patient care. Objective: This study aimed to review the current applications, gaps, and challenges in the literature on conversational agents in health care and provide recommendations for their future research, design, and application. Methods: We performed a scoping review. A broad literature search was performed in MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online; Ovid), EMBASE (Excerpta Medica database; Ovid), PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central with the search terms “conversational agents,” “conversational AI,” “chatbots,” and associated synonyms. We also searched the gray literature using sources such as the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) WorldCat database and ResearchGate in April 2019. Reference lists of relevant articles were checked for further articles. Screening and data extraction were performed in parallel by 2 reviewers. The included evidence was analyzed narratively by employing the principles of thematic analysis. Results: The literature search yielded 47 study reports (45 articles and 2 ongoing clinical trials) that matched the inclusion criteria. The identified conversational agents were largely delivered via smartphone apps (n=23) and used free text only as the main input (n=19) and output (n=30) modality. Case studies describing chatbot development (n=18) were the most prevalent, and only 11 randomized controlled trials were identified. The 3 most commonly reported conversational agent applications in the literature were treatment and monitoring, health care service support, and patient education. Conclusions: The literature on conversational agents in health care is largely descriptive and aimed at treatment and monitoring and health service support. It mostly reports on text-based, artificial intelligence–driven, and smartphone app–delivered conversational agents. There is an urgent need for a robust evaluation of diverse health care conversational agents’ formats, focusing on their acceptability, safety, and effectiveness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:40:19Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/148951 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:40:19Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1489512023-03-05T16:52:25Z Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis Car, Lorainne Tudor Dhinagaran, Dhakshenya Ardhithy Kyaw, Bhone Myint Kowatsch, Tobias Joty, Shafiq Theng, Yin-Leng Atun, Rifat Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) School of Computer Science and Engineering Centre for Healthy and Sustainable Cities (CHESS) Science::Medicine Conversational Agents Chatbots Background: Conversational agents, also known as chatbots, are computer programs designed to simulate human text or verbal conversations. They are increasingly used in a range of fields, including health care. By enabling better accessibility, personalization, and efficiency, conversational agents have the potential to improve patient care. Objective: This study aimed to review the current applications, gaps, and challenges in the literature on conversational agents in health care and provide recommendations for their future research, design, and application. Methods: We performed a scoping review. A broad literature search was performed in MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online; Ovid), EMBASE (Excerpta Medica database; Ovid), PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central with the search terms “conversational agents,” “conversational AI,” “chatbots,” and associated synonyms. We also searched the gray literature using sources such as the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) WorldCat database and ResearchGate in April 2019. Reference lists of relevant articles were checked for further articles. Screening and data extraction were performed in parallel by 2 reviewers. The included evidence was analyzed narratively by employing the principles of thematic analysis. Results: The literature search yielded 47 study reports (45 articles and 2 ongoing clinical trials) that matched the inclusion criteria. The identified conversational agents were largely delivered via smartphone apps (n=23) and used free text only as the main input (n=19) and output (n=30) modality. Case studies describing chatbot development (n=18) were the most prevalent, and only 11 randomized controlled trials were identified. The 3 most commonly reported conversational agent applications in the literature were treatment and monitoring, health care service support, and patient education. Conclusions: The literature on conversational agents in health care is largely descriptive and aimed at treatment and monitoring and health service support. It mostly reports on text-based, artificial intelligence–driven, and smartphone app–delivered conversational agents. There is an urgent need for a robust evaluation of diverse health care conversational agents’ formats, focusing on their acceptability, safety, and effectiveness. Nanyang Technological University National Research Foundation (NRF) Published version This research is supported by the Ageing Research Institute for Society and Education (ARISE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. This study is also supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program. 2021-05-18T07:13:05Z 2021-05-18T07:13:05Z 2020 Journal Article Car, L. T., Dhinagaran, D. A., Kyaw, B. M., Kowatsch, T., Joty, S., Theng, Y. & Atun, R. (2020). Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(8). https://dx.doi.org/10.2196/17158 1438-8871 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148951 10.2196/17158 32763886 2-s2.0-85089301364 8 22 en Journal of Medical Internet Research © 2020 Lorainne Tudor Car, Dhakshenya Ardhithy Dhinagaran, Bhone Myint Kyaw, Tobias Kowatsch, Shafiq Joty, Yin-Leng Theng, Rifat Atun. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 07.08.2020. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Science::Medicine Conversational Agents Chatbots Car, Lorainne Tudor Dhinagaran, Dhakshenya Ardhithy Kyaw, Bhone Myint Kowatsch, Tobias Joty, Shafiq Theng, Yin-Leng Atun, Rifat Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title | Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title_full | Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title_fullStr | Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title_short | Conversational agents in health care : scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| title_sort | conversational agents in health care scoping review and conceptual analysis |
| topic | Science::Medicine Conversational Agents Chatbots |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148951 |
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