Kuramochi Izumi, Oba Ryoya, Nozawa Naoki, Ishihara Tomoki, Oga Koko, Iwayama Takayuki, Shiganami Takafumi, Kobayashi Sayaka, Kuga Hironori, Yoshimasu Haruo, Watanuki Keiichi
Department of Psychiatry, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Epilepsia Open. 2025 Jul 28. doi: 10.1002/epi4.70095.
Effective epilepsy management requires accurate epilepsy knowledge, active patient engagement, and stigma reduction to improve health outcomes. Educational interventions have been shown to enhance patients' quality of life (QOL) and knowledge. This study evaluated the effectiveness of EpiloBot, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot designed to provide epilepsy education and psychosocial support, through a pre-post intervention study measuring changes in knowledge, attitudes, and self-stigma among people with epilepsy (PWE) and their supporters (including caregivers, family members, friends, or others closely involved with someone with epilepsy).
The study consisted of two phases: a preliminary pretest phase to refine chatbot content and a main intervention phase. In the main phase, 176 participants (13 PWE, 69 active supporters, 28 potential future supporters, and 66 others) registered to use EpiloBot via the smartphone app. Of these, 82 completed both pre- and post-intervention surveys. The surveys assessed epilepsy-related knowledge, workplace attitudes, and self-stigma before and after chatbot use. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to analyze changes over time.
The chatbot intervention led to a significant improvement in attitudes toward workplace equality for PWE (p < 0.001) and in knowledge about epilepsy treatment (p = 0.022). A slight increase in epilepsy-related self-stigma was observed among participants with epilepsy (n = 9, p = 0.022). Non-significant results were removed to streamline the findings. These results highlight the chatbot's potential as a scalable digital tool for epilepsy education and psychosocial support, although the challenge of addressing self-stigma remains a critical issue for future applications.
EpiloBot demonstrates effectiveness in enhancing epilepsy-related knowledge and workplace attitudes but also reveals the complexities of self-stigma dynamics. While educational interventions can promote inclusivity and knowledge gain, self-stigma may increase due to heightened awareness of epilepsy-related challenges. Future studies should explore long-term impacts, integrating educational and psychosocial support interventions to optimize chatbot-based learning in epilepsy care.
This study tested EpiloBot, an AI-powered chatbot designed to educate people with epilepsy (PWE) and their supporters, including caregivers and family members. We measured changes in epilepsy-related knowledge, attitudes, and self-stigma before and after chatbot use. Results showed improved attitudes toward PWE in the workplace and increased understanding of epilepsy treatment. However, self-stigma slightly increased among PWE, possibly due to greater awareness of social challenges, highlighting the need for long-term psychosocial support alongside education.
有效的癫痫管理需要准确的癫痫知识、患者的积极参与以及减少耻辱感，以改善健康结果。教育干预已被证明可提高患者的生活质量（QOL）和知识水平。本研究通过一项干预前后的研究，评估了EpiloBot（一种旨在提供癫痫教育和心理社会支持的人工智能驱动的聊天机器人）对癫痫患者（PWE）及其支持者（包括护理人员、家庭成员、朋友或其他与癫痫患者密切相关的人）的知识、态度和自我耻辱感变化的有效性。
该研究包括两个阶段：一个用于完善聊天机器人内容的初步预测试阶段和一个主要干预阶段。在主要阶段，176名参与者（13名癫痫患者、69名积极支持者、28名潜在未来支持者和66名其他人）通过智能手机应用程序注册使用EpiloBot。其中，82人完成了干预前和干预后的调查。这些调查评估了使用聊天机器人前后与癫痫相关的知识、工作场所态度和自我耻辱感。采用配对t检验和Wilcoxon符号秩检验来分析随时间的变化。
聊天机器人干预使癫痫患者对工作场所平等的态度有了显著改善（p < 0.001），对癫痫治疗的知识也有了显著提高（p = 0.022）。癫痫患者（n = 9，p = 0.022）中观察到与癫痫相关的自我耻辱感略有增加。去除无显著结果以简化研究结果。这些结果凸显了聊天机器人作为一种可扩展的数字工具用于癫痫教育和心理社会支持的潜力，尽管解决自我耻辱感的挑战仍然是未来应用的一个关键问题。
EpiloBot在增强与癫痫相关的知识和工作场所态度方面显示出有效性，但也揭示了自我耻辱感动态变化的复杂性。虽然教育干预可以促进包容性和知识获取，但由于对癫痫相关挑战的认识提高，自我耻辱感可能会增加。未来的研究应探索长期影响，整合教育和心理社会支持干预措施，以优化癫痫护理中基于聊天机器人的学习。
本研究测试了EpiloBot，这是一种人工智能驱动的聊天机器人，旨在教育癫痫患者（PWE）及其支持者，包括护理人员和家庭成员。我们测量了使用聊天机器人前后与癫痫相关的知识、态度和自我耻辱感的变化。结果显示，对癫痫患者在工作场所的态度有所改善，对癫痫治疗的理解有所增加。然而，癫痫患者中的自我耻辱感略有增加，可能是由于对社会挑战的认识提高，这凸显了在教育的同时需要长期的心理社会支持。
