Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: May 23, 2023
Date Accepted: Nov 5, 2023
Date Submitted to PubMed: May 23, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Chatbots for Symptom Screening and Patient Education: A Pilot Study on Patient Acceptability in Autoimmune Inflammatory Diseases
ABSTRACT
Background:
Chatbots are increasingly used in health care to enhance patient engagement, satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness. However, chatbot acceptability varies among patient populations and has not been well studied in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease (AIIRD).
Objective:
To examine the acceptability of a chatbot designed explicitly for AIIRD.
Methods:
A survey was conducted in an outpatient setting at a tertiary rheumatology referral center, targeting patients who interacted with a chatbot developed explicitly for diagnosing and providing information on AIIRD. Based on the RE-AIM framework, the survey assessed the chatbots’ effectiveness, acceptability, and implementation.
Results:
A total of 200 patients with rheumatological conditions participated in the survey between June and October 2022 (100 first visits and 100 follow-up visits). The study demonstrated the overall high acceptability of chatbots in rheumatology, which remained consistent across age, gender, and visit type. The subgroup analysis indicated that individuals with higher educational backgrounds tended to be more receptive to chatbots as sources of information. Participants with inflammatory arthropathies also demonstrated a higher degree of chatbot acceptability as an information source than individuals with connective tissue disease.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrated that the chatbot had high acceptability among patients with AIIRD, independent of patient demographics or type of visit. Acceptability is more pronounced in patients with inflammatory arthropathies and in those with higher educational levels. Health care providers can use these insights when considering the implementation of chatbots in rheumatology to improve patient care and satisfaction.
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Copyright
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