School of Communication, University of Johannesburg, Westcliff, South Africa.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Jun 14;25:e35573. doi: 10.2196/35573.
This scoping review explores and summarizes the existing literature on the use of chatbots to support and promote health in Africa.
The primary aim was to learn where, and under what circumstances, chatbots have been used effectively for health in Africa; how chatbots have been developed to the best effect; and how they have been evaluated by looking at literature published between 2017 and 2022. A secondary aim was to identify potential lessons and best practices for others chatbots. The review also aimed to highlight directions for future research on the use of chatbots for health in Africa.
Using the 2005 Arksey and O'Malley framework, we used a Boolean search to broadly search literature published between January 2017 and July 2022. Literature between June 2021 and July 2022 was identified using Google Scholar, EBSCO information services-which includes the African HealthLine, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases-and other internet sources (including gray literature). The inclusion criteria were literature about health chatbots in Africa published in journals, conference papers, opinion, or white papers.
In all, 212 records were screened, and 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. Results were analyzed according to the themes they covered. The themes identified included the purpose of the chatbot as either providing an educational or information-sharing service or providing a counselling service. Accessibility as a result of either technical restrictions or language restrictions was also noted. Other themes that were identified included the need for the consideration of trust, privacy and ethics, and evaluation.
The findings demonstrate that current data are insufficient to show whether chatbots are effectively supporting health in the region. However, the review does reveal insights into popular chatbots and the need to make them accessible through language considerations, platform choice, and user trust, as well as the importance of robust evaluation frameworks to assess their impact. The review also provides recommendations on the direction of future research.
本范围综述探讨并总结了现有关于在非洲使用聊天机器人支持和促进健康的文献。
主要目的是了解在非洲，聊天机器人在哪些地方、在什么情况下被有效地用于健康；了解为了达到最佳效果，聊天机器人是如何开发的；并通过查看 2017 年至 2022 年期间发表的文献，了解它们是如何进行评估的。次要目的是为其他聊天机器人确定潜在的经验教训和最佳实践。该综述还旨在突出未来在非洲使用聊天机器人进行健康研究的方向。
使用 2005 年 Arksey 和 O'Malley 的框架，我们使用布尔搜索广泛搜索了 2017 年 1 月至 2022 年 7 月期间发表的文献。2021 年 6 月至 2022 年 7 月期间的文献是通过 Google Scholar、EBSCO 信息服务（包括 African HealthLine、PubMed、MEDLINE、PsycInfo、Cochrane、Embase、Scopus 和 Web of Science 数据库）以及其他互联网资源（包括灰色文献）确定的。纳入标准是在期刊、会议论文、意见或白皮书等出版物中发表的关于非洲健康聊天机器人的文献。
共筛选出 212 条记录，其中 12 篇文章符合纳入标准。根据涵盖的主题对结果进行了分析。确定的主题包括聊天机器人的目的是提供教育或信息共享服务还是提供咨询服务。还注意到由于技术限制或语言限制而导致的可访问性。其他确定的主题包括考虑信任、隐私和道德以及评估的必要性。
研究结果表明，目前的数据不足以表明聊天机器人是否有效地支持该地区的健康。然而，该综述确实揭示了有关流行聊天机器人的一些见解，以及通过语言考虑、平台选择和用户信任使它们具有可访问性的必要性，以及使用强大的评估框架来评估其影响的重要性。该综述还就未来研究的方向提出了建议。
