School of Nursing and Midwifery, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Gerontologist. 2019 Jan 9;59(1):e37-e51. doi: 10.1093/geront/gny046.
Social robots may promote the health of older adults by increasing their perceived emotional support and social interaction. This review aims to summarize the effectiveness of social robots on outcomes (psychological, physiological, quality of life, or medications) of older adults from randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
A mixed-method systematic review of RCTs meeting the study inclusion criteria was undertaken. Eight databases were electronically searched up to September 2017. Participants' characteristics, intervention features, and outcome data were retrieved. The mean difference and standardized mean difference with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were synthesized to pool the effect size.
A total of 13 articles from 11 RCTs were identified from 2,204 articles, of which 9 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Risk of bias was relatively high in allocation concealment and blinding. Social robots appeared to have positive impacts on agitation, anxiety, and quality of life for older adults but no statistical significance was found in the meta-analysis. However, results from a narrative review indicated that social robot interactions could improve engagement, interaction, and stress indicators, as well as reduce loneliness and the use of medications for older adults.
Social robots appear to have the potential to improve the well-being of older adults, but conclusions are limited due to the lack of high-quality studies. More RCTs are recommended with larger sample sizes and rigorous study designs.
社交机器人可以通过增加老年人的感知情感支持和社交互动，促进老年人的健康。本综述旨在总结随机对照试验（RCT）中社交机器人对老年人结局（心理、生理、生活质量或药物）的有效性。
对符合研究纳入标准的 RCT 进行混合方法系统综述。截至 2017 年 9 月，对 8 个数据库进行了电子检索。提取参与者特征、干预措施和结局数据。采用均数差值和标准化均数差值及其 95%置信区间（CI）合成效应量。
共从 2204 篇文章中确定了 13 篇来自 11 项 RCT 的文章，其中 9 项研究纳入荟萃分析。在分配隐藏和盲法方面，偏倚风险相对较高。社交机器人似乎对老年人的激越、焦虑和生活质量有积极影响，但荟萃分析未发现统计学意义。然而，叙述性综述的结果表明，社交机器人互动可以改善老年人的参与度、互动和应激指标，减少孤独感和药物使用。
社交机器人似乎有潜力改善老年人的健康状况，但由于高质量研究的缺乏，结论有限。建议进行更多具有更大样本量和严格研究设计的 RCT。
