Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 29, 2024 - Dec 24, 2024
Date Accepted: Dec 23, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Assessing the Effectiveness of Interactive Robot-Assisted Virtual Health Coaching: A Quasi-Experimental Study on Health Literacy and Disease Knowledge in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
ABSTRACT
Background:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) imposes a significant global health and economic burden. Despite its widespread prevalence, public awareness of the disease remains limited.
Objective:
This study aimed to develop a 12-unit program enabling healthcare professionals to provide virtual health coaching via interactive robots, as well as to evaluate its effectiveness in improving disease knowledge and health literacy among patients with CKD.
Methods:
A quasi-experimental design was employed with 30 participants divided into two groups: 14 in the experimental group, which received the intervention, and 16 in the comparison group, which received standard care. Data were collected using structured and validated questionnaires, with assessments conducted both pre-and post-intervention. Thirty participants completed the program and underwent subsequent evaluations.
Results:
Post-intervention analysis using generalized estimating equations showed that, after age adjustment, the experimental group (n = 14) had significantly higher improvements in health literacy (coefficient = 2.51, Wald χ² = 5.89, P = 0.02) and disease knowledge (coefficient = 1.66, Wald χ² = 11.75, P = 0.001) than the comparison group (n = 16).
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated that interactive robot-assisted eHealth coaching effectively enhanced CKD-specific disease knowledge and health literacy. Thus, such programs comprise a promising tool for future patient education in clinical nephrology, warranting further promotion and broader applications.
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