Baertsch Marc-Andrea, Decker Sarah, Probst Leona, Joneleit Stefan, Salwender Hans, Frommann Franziska, Buettner Hartwig
Department of Internal Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Takeda Pharma Vertrieb GmbH & Co KG, Berlin, Germany.
JMIR Cancer. 2022 Jun 9;8(2):e35500. doi: 10.2196/35500.
Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have high information needs due to the complexity of the disease and variety of treatments. Digital voice assistants provide support in daily life and can be a convenient tool that even older patients can use to access health information. Voice assistants may therefore be useful in providing digital health services to meet the information needs of patients with MM.
We aim to describe and report on the development, content, and functionality of the first Amazon Alexa voice assistant skill for patients with MM in Germany with the goal of empowering and educating patients. Further, we share data on skill usage and first learnings.
In a cocreation workshop with MM patient organizations and MM medical experts in Germany, Takeda Oncology discussed the development and content of the Alexa skill Multiple Myeloma. Patient information on MM disease, diagnostics, and therapy was presented in a question-and-answer format, reviewed by experts, and programmed into the skill. Additionally, a search function for finding patient support groups within a perimeter of 200 km around the users and a myeloma quiz functionality with multiple-choice questions were integrated into the skill. Aggregated retrospective data on the total number of skill installations and skill usage were retrieved from an Amazon Alexa developer account, and a web-based patient survey was conducted on the Takeda Oncology website.
The Alexa skill Multiple Myeloma was launched in September 2019. It was available free of charge on the German Amazon Alexa skill store between September 2019 and March 2022 and could be used with devices featuring the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. Since the launch in September 2019 and up to July 2021, a total of 141 users have installed the skill. Between July 2020 and July 2021, a total of 189 skill sessions with 797 utterances were analyzed. The most popular inquiries were searches for patient support groups near the users (58/797, 7.3%), followed by inquiries about information on MM disease (53/797, 6.6%) and the quiz (43/797, 5.4%). The web-based survey on voice assistant usage and the feedback on the Alexa skill Multiple Myeloma were collected from 24 participants and showed that 46% (11/24) of participants would recommend the Alexa skill. Nonusers of voice assistants (11/24, 46%) stated that data protection concerns (7/11, 64%) and a lack of need (6/11, 55%) were the most important factors of not using voice assistants.
The Alexa skill Multiple Myeloma offers patient-friendly and expert-reviewed answers and explanations for medical terms related to MM disease, diagnostics, and therapy, as well as connections to patient support groups and a quiz functionality. In the future, the skill can be extended with new content and functionalities, such as medication adherence support.
由于疾病的复杂性和治疗方法的多样性，多发性骨髓瘤（MM）患者有很高的信息需求。数字语音助手在日常生活中提供支持，并且可以成为一种方便的工具，即使是老年患者也可以使用它来获取健康信息。因此，语音助手可能有助于提供数字健康服务，以满足MM患者的信息需求。
我们旨在描述并报告德国首个面向MM患者的亚马逊Alexa语音助手技能的开发、内容和功能，目标是增强患者能力并对其进行教育。此外，我们分享技能使用数据和初步经验教训。
在与德国MM患者组织和MM医学专家共同举办的共创研讨会上，武田肿瘤学公司讨论了Alexa技能“多发性骨髓瘤”的开发和内容。关于MM疾病、诊断和治疗的患者信息以问答形式呈现，经专家审核后编入该技能。此外，该技能还集成了一个搜索功能，用于查找用户周围200公里范围内的患者支持小组，以及一个带有多项选择题的骨髓瘤问答功能。从亚马逊Alexa开发者账户中检索了关于技能安装总数和技能使用情况的汇总回顾性数据，并在武田肿瘤学公司网站上进行了基于网络的患者调查。
Alexa技能“多发性骨髓瘤”于2019年9月推出。在2019年9月至2022年3月期间，它在德国亚马逊Alexa技能商店免费提供，可与配备亚马逊Alexa语音助手的设备一起使用。自2019年9月推出至2021年7月，共有141名用户安装了该技能。在2020年7月至2021年7月期间，共分析了189次技能会话和797条话语。最受欢迎的查询是搜索用户附近的患者支持小组（58/797，7.3%），其次是关于MM疾病信息（53/797，6.6%）和问答（43/797，5.4%）的查询。从24名参与者那里收集了关于语音助手使用情况的网络调查以及对Alexa技能“多发性骨髓瘤”的反馈，结果显示46%（11/24）的参与者会推荐该Alexa技能。未使用语音助手的用户（11/24，46%）表示，对数据保护的担忧（7/11，64%）和缺乏需求（6/11，55%）是不使用语音助手的最重要因素。
Alexa技能“多发性骨髓瘤”为与MM疾病、诊断和治疗相关的医学术语提供了患者友好型且经专家审核的答案和解释，以及与患者支持小组的联系和问答功能。未来，该技能可以通过新的内容和功能进行扩展，如药物依从性支持。
