BACKGROUND The last decade has witnessed the rapid development of health care conversational agents (CAs); however, there are still great challenges in making health care CAs trustworthy and acceptable to patients. OBJECTIVE Focusing on intelligent guidance CAs, a type of health care CA for web-based patient triage, this study aims to investigate how anthropomorphic cues influence patients’ perceived anthropomorphism and social presence of such CAs and evaluate how these perceptions facilitate their trust-building process and acceptance behavior. METHODS To test the research hypotheses, the video vignette methodology was used to evaluate patients’ perceptions and acceptance of various intelligent guidance CAs. The anthropomorphic cues of CAs were manipulated in a 3×2 within-subject factorial experiment with 103 participants, with the factors of agent appearance (high, medium, and low anthropomorphic levels) and verbal cues (humanlike and machine-like verbal cues) as the within-subject variables. RESULTS The 2-way repeated measures ANOVA analysis indicated that the higher anthropomorphic level of agent appearance significantly increased mindful anthropomorphism (high level&gt;medium level: 4.57 vs 4.27; <i>P</i>=.01; high level&gt;low level: 4.57 vs 4.04; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; medium level&gt;low level: 4.27 vs 4.04; <i>P</i>=.04), mindless anthropomorphism (high level&gt;medium level: 5.39 vs 5.01; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; high level&gt;low level: 5.39 vs 4.85; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and social presence (high level&gt;medium level: 5.19 vs 4.83; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; high level&gt;low level: 5.19 vs 4.72; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and the higher anthropomorphic level of verbal cues significantly increased mindful anthropomorphism (4.83 vs 3.76; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), mindless anthropomorphism (5.60 vs 4.57; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and social presence (5.41 vs 4.41; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Meanwhile, a significant interaction between agent appearance and verbal cues (.004) was revealed. Second, the partial least squares results indicated that privacy concerns were negatively influenced by social presence (β=−.375; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=4.494) and mindful anthropomorphism (β=−.112; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=1.970). Privacy concerns (β=−.273; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=9.558), social presence (β=.265; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=4.314), and mindless anthropomorphism (β=.405; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=7.145) predicted the trust in CAs, which further promoted the intention to disclose information (β=.675; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=21.163), the intention to continuously use CAs (β=.190; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=4.874), and satisfaction (β=.818; <i>t</i>₃₁₂=46.783). CONCLUSIONS The findings show that a high anthropomorphic level of agent appearance and verbal cues could improve the perceptions of mindful anthropomorphism and mindless anthropomorphism as well as social presence. Furthermore, mindless anthropomorphism and social presence significantly promoted patients’ trust in CAs, and mindful anthropomorphism and social presence decreased privacy concerns. It is also worth noting that trust was an important antecedent and determinant of patients’ acceptance of CAs, including their satisfaction, intention to disclose information, and intention to continuously use CAs. CLINICALTRIAL

BACKGROUND Background: Although physical exercises can help older adults with Parkinson’s disease to retain their mobility function, older adults are less motivated to attend repeated and intensive physical training. Exergaming-based interventions have the potential to provide a more engaged and enjoyable therapy. However, few meta-analysis studies discussed the effectiveness of exergaming-based interventions on the mobility performance of older adults with Parkinson’s disease. OBJECTIVE Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to examine the effectiveness of exergaming-based interventions on mobility performance in older adults with Parkinson’s disease. METHODS Methods: Seven databases (Web of Science, Medline, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, PsychARTICLE, and PubMed) were searched to identify the RCTs which examined the effectiveness of exergaming on the mobility performance of older adults with Parkinson’s disease up to September 2021. Using meta-analysis, we assessed mobility performance between intervention groups and control groups by comparing basic mobility function with the Timed Up and Go (TUG), walking capability with 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), postural balance function with the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and gait ability with gait velocity, stride length, and the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA). RESULTS Results: After scanning 1110 articles, we identified and meta-analyzed 16 trials, including a total of 508 older adults with Parkinson’s disease. The results revealed statistical differences between intervention groups and control groups in the TUG (MD = -0.87; 95% CI = -1.60 to -0.15; P = .018), 6MWT (MD = 39.56; 95% CI = 1.21 to 77.91; P = 0.043), BBS (MD = 2.28; 95% CI = 1.42 to 3.14; P < .001), and FGA (MD = 1.40; 95% CI = -0.03 to 2.82; P = .054). The detectable clinically difference of the outcomes were discussed and the implications were provided. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Exergaming is superior to traditional training in improving PD older adults’ basic mobility skills, walking capability, and postural balance function, while it has an equal effect with traditional physical training in enhancing PD older adults’ gait ability.

Background The last decade has witnessed the rapid development of health care conversational agents (CAs); however, there are still great challenges in making health care CAs trustworthy and acceptable to patients. Objective Focusing on intelligent guidance CAs, a type of health care CA for web-based patient triage, this study aims to investigate how anthropomorphic cues influence patients’ perceived anthropomorphism and social presence of such CAs and evaluate how these perceptions facilitate their trust-building process and acceptance behavior. Methods To test the research hypotheses, the video vignette methodology was used to evaluate patients’ perceptions and acceptance of various intelligent guidance CAs. The anthropomorphic cues of CAs were manipulated in a 3×2 within-subject factorial experiment with 103 participants, with the factors of agent appearance (high, medium, and low anthropomorphic levels) and verbal cues (humanlike and machine-like verbal cues) as the within-subject variables. Results The 2-way repeated measures ANOVA analysis indicated that the higher anthropomorphic level of agent appearance significantly increased mindful anthropomorphism (high level>medium level: 4.57 vs 4.27; P=.01; high level>low level: 4.57 vs 4.04; P<.001; medium level>low level: 4.27 vs 4.04; P=.04), mindless anthropomorphism (high level>medium level: 5.39 vs 5.01; P<.001; high level>low level: 5.39 vs 4.85; P<.001), and social presence (high level>medium level: 5.19 vs 4.83; P<.001; high level>low level: 5.19 vs 4.72; P<.001), and the higher anthropomorphic level of verbal cues significantly increased mindful anthropomorphism (4.83 vs 3.76; P<.001), mindless anthropomorphism (5.60 vs 4.57; P<.001), and social presence (5.41 vs 4.41; P<.001). Meanwhile, a significant interaction between agent appearance and verbal cues (.004) was revealed. Second, the partial least squares results indicated that privacy concerns were negatively influenced by social presence (β=−.375; t312=4.494) and mindful anthropomorphism (β=−.112; t312=1.970). Privacy concerns (β=−.273; t312=9.558), social presence (β=.265; t312=4.314), and mindless anthropomorphism (β=.405; t312=7.145) predicted the trust in CAs, which further promoted the intention to disclose information (β=.675; t312=21.163), the intention to continuously use CAs (β=.190; t312=4.874), and satisfaction (β=.818; t312=46.783). Conclusions The findings show that a high anthropomorphic level of agent appearance and verbal cues could improve the perceptions of mindful anthropomorphism and mindless anthropomorphism as well as social presence. Furthermore, mindless anthropomorphism and social presence significantly promoted patients’ trust in CAs, and mindful anthropomorphism and social presence decreased privacy concerns. It is also worth noting that trust was an important antecedent and determinant of patients’ acceptance of CAs, including their satisfaction, intention to disclose information, and intention to continuously use CAs.