Daley Kate, Hungerbuehler Ines, Cavanagh Kate, Claro Heloísa Garcia, Swinton Paul Alan, Kapps Michael
Vitalk, TNH Health, São Paulo, Brazil.
School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Front Digit Health. 2020 Nov 30;2:576361. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2020.576361. eCollection 2020.
Mental health difficulties are highly prevalent, yet access to support is limited by barriers of stigma, cost, and availability. These issues are even more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, and digital technology is one potential way to overcome these barriers. Digital mental health interventions are effective but often struggle with low engagement rates, particularly in the absence of human support. Chatbots could offer a scalable solution, simulating human support at a lower cost. To complete a preliminary evaluation of engagement and effectiveness of Vitalk, a mental health chatbot, at reducing anxiety, depression and stress. Real world data was analyzed from 3,629 Vitalk users who had completed the first phase of a Vitalk program ("less anxiety," "less stress" or "better mood"). Programs were delivered through written conversation with a chatbot. Engagement was calculated from the number of responses sent to the chatbot divided by days in the program. Users sent an average of 8.17 responses per day. For all three programs, target outcome scores reduced between baseline and follow up with large effect sizes for anxiety (Cohen's d = -0.85), depression (Cohen's d = -0.91) and stress (Cohen's d = -0.81). Increased engagement resulted in improved post-intervention values for anxiety and depression. This study highlights a chatbot's potential to reduce mental health symptoms in the general population within Brazil. While findings show promise, further research is required.
心理健康问题极为普遍，但由于耻辱感、成本和可及性等障碍，获得支持的途径有限。这些问题在低收入和中等收入国家更为普遍，而数字技术是克服这些障碍的一种潜在方式。数字心理健康干预措施是有效的，但往往难以解决参与率低的问题，尤其是在缺乏人力支持的情况下。聊天机器人可以提供一种可扩展的解决方案，以较低成本模拟人力支持。为了对心理健康聊天机器人Vitalk在减轻焦虑、抑郁和压力方面的参与度和有效性进行初步评估，分析了3629名完成Vitalk计划第一阶段（“焦虑减轻”、“压力减轻”或“情绪改善”）的用户的真实世界数据。该计划通过与聊天机器人的书面对话提供。参与度通过发送给聊天机器人的回复数量除以参与计划的天数来计算。用户平均每天发送8.17条回复。对于所有三个计划，目标结果分数在基线和随访之间均有所降低，焦虑（科恩d值=-0.
