Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2018
Date Accepted: Apr 9, 2019
A Systematic Review of Health Interventions by Social Robots
ABSTRACT
Background:
Social robots offer exciting opportunities for improved healthcare access and outcomes, but evidence across healthcare applications has not yet been synthesised.
Objective:
This study aimed to undertake a PRISMA-compliant review examining current evidence on effects of psychosocial interventions using social robots.
Methods:
Medline, PsycInfo, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Engineering Village searches were supplemented by forward and backward searches. Included papers reported randomized controlled trials that assessed health or wellbeing effects from interactions with a social robot.
Results:
Out of 407 extracted records, 25 trials met inclusion criteria: 6 in child health and wellbeing, 9 for children with autism spectrum disorder, and 10 with older adults. No trials on adolescents, young adults or other problem areas were identified, and no studies had interventions where robots spontaneously modified verbal responses based on speech by participants. Most trials were small (N = 5-415; Median = 30), only six (24%) reported follow-up outcomes (2-12 weeks, Median = 3.5) and single-blind assessment was reported in eight (32%). Recent trials tended to have improved methodological quality. While all papers reported some positive outcomes from robotic interventions, other measures often showed no difference or favored alternate treatments.
Conclusions:
Controlled research on social robots is at an early stage, as is the current range of their applications to healthcare.
Citation
