Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.
J Med Internet Res. 2024 Jul 23;26:e56930. doi: 10.2196/56930.
Chatbots, or conversational agents, have emerged as significant tools in health care, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence and digital technology. These programs are designed to simulate human conversations, addressing various health care needs. However, no comprehensive synthesis of health care chatbots' roles, users, benefits, and limitations is available to inform future research and application in the field.
This review aims to describe health care chatbots' characteristics, focusing on their diverse roles in the health care pathway, user groups, benefits, and limitations.
A rapid review of published literature from 2017 to 2023 was performed with a search strategy developed in collaboration with a health sciences librarian and implemented in the MEDLINE and Embase databases. Primary research studies reporting on chatbot roles or benefits in health care were included. Two reviewers dual-screened the search results. Extracted data on chatbot roles, users, benefits, and limitations were subjected to content analysis.
The review categorized chatbot roles into 2 themes: delivery of remote health services, including patient support, care management, education, skills building, and health behavior promotion, and provision of administrative assistance to health care providers. User groups spanned across patients with chronic conditions as well as patients with cancer; individuals focused on lifestyle improvements; and various demographic groups such as women, families, and older adults. Professionals and students in health care also emerged as significant users, alongside groups seeking mental health support, behavioral change, and educational enhancement. The benefits of health care chatbots were also classified into 2 themes: improvement of health care quality and efficiency and cost-effectiveness in health care delivery. The identified limitations encompassed ethical challenges, medicolegal and safety concerns, technical difficulties, user experience issues, and societal and economic impacts.
Health care chatbots offer a wide spectrum of applications, potentially impacting various aspects of health care. While they are promising tools for improving health care efficiency and quality, their integration into the health care system must be approached with consideration of their limitations to ensure optimal, safe, and equitable use.
随着人工智能和数字技术的进步，聊天机器人或会话代理已成为医疗保健领域的重要工具。这些程序旨在模拟人类对话，满足各种医疗保健需求。然而，目前尚无关于医疗保健聊天机器人角色、用户、益处和局限性的综合综述，无法为该领域的未来研究和应用提供信息。
本综述旨在描述医疗保健聊天机器人的特征，重点介绍其在医疗保健途径中的各种角色，用户群体、益处和局限性。
与健康科学图书馆员合作制定并在 MEDLINE 和 Embase 数据库中实施的搜索策略，对 2017 年至 2023 年发表的文献进行了快速综述。纳入了报告医疗保健中聊天机器人角色或益处的原始研究。两名评审员双屏筛选搜索结果。对提取的关于聊天机器人角色、用户、益处和局限性的数据进行内容分析。
综述将聊天机器人角色分为 2 个主题：远程医疗服务的提供，包括患者支持、护理管理、教育、技能建设和健康行为促进，以及为医疗保健提供者提供行政协助。用户群体涵盖患有慢性病的患者以及患有癌症的患者、关注生活方式改善的个体以及女性、家庭和老年人等各种人群。医疗保健专业人员和学生以及寻求心理健康支持、行为改变和教育增强的群体也是重要用户。医疗保健聊天机器人的益处也分为 2 个主题：改善医疗保健质量和效率以及医疗保健提供的成本效益。确定的局限性包括伦理挑战、医学法律和安全问题、技术困难、用户体验问题以及社会和经济影响。
医疗保健聊天机器人提供了广泛的应用，可能会影响医疗保健的各个方面。虽然它们是提高医疗保健效率和质量的有前途的工具，但在将其纳入医疗保健系统时，必须考虑到其局限性，以确保安全、公平地使用。
