An Online Therapeutic Intervention for Veterans Patients Suffering with Chronic Pain

Embodied Conversational Agents for Chronic Diseases: Scoping Review

“…Among the studies that reported a study design, mixed method studies (8/36, 22%) [ 10 , 28 , 39 - 44 ] and pilot studies (8/36, 22%) [ 31 , 34 , 38 , 45 - 48 ] were the most commonly used study designs, followed by qualitative studies (6/36, 17%) [ 11 , 26 , 35 , 49 - 51 ], randomized controlled trials (5/36, 14%) [ 32 , 37 , 52 - 54 ], ongoing trials (4/36, 11%) [ 33 , 55 - 57 ], quasiexperimental designs (2/36, 6%) [ 30 ], longitudinal study (1/36, 3%) [ 29 ], single-group nonrandomized trial (1/36, 3%) [ 36 ], and pre- and posttest design (1/36, 3%) [ 27 ]. Of the 36 studies, 30 (83%) were conducted on patients (15/36, 42%) [ 10 , 26 , 32 , 34 - 37 , 40 , 42 , 47 , 52 , 54 - 57 ] or healthy individuals (15/36, 42%) [ 11 , 27 , 29 - 31 , 44 - 46 , 48 - 51 , 53 ] and 6 (17%) [ 28 , 33 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 ] on stakeholders such as homecare providers or experts. The mean age of the target population across studies was >40 years, except for 19% (7/36) of the studies [ 30 , 33 , 35 , 47 , 53 , 57 ].…”

“…Of the 36 studies, 30 (83%) were conducted on patients (15/36, 42%) [ 10 , 26 , 32 , 34 - 37 , 40 , 42 , 47 , 52 , 54 - 57 ] or healthy individuals (15/36, 42%) [ 11 , 27 , 29 - 31 , 44 - 46 , 48 - 51 , 53 ] and 6 (17%) [ 28 , 33 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 ] on stakeholders such as homecare providers or experts. The mean age of the target population across studies was >40 years, except for 19% (7/36) of the studies [ 30 , 33 , 35 , 47 , 53 , 57 ].…”

“…Of the 36 studies, 8 (22%) addressed atrial fibrillation [ 34 , 52 , 55 , 56 ] and type 2 diabetes [ 10 , 26 , 37 , 39 ]. Other conditions included dementia (2/36, 6%) [ 41 , 42 ], obesity (1/36, 3%) [ 32 ], Parkinson disease (1/36, 3%) [ 36 ], sleep apnea syndrome (1/36, 3%) [ 38 ], spinal cord injury (1/36, 3%) [ 35 ], and chronic pain (3/36, 8%) [ 47 , 54 , 57 ]. One study focused on 2 diseases [ 40 ].…”

“…The goals of the ECA-led interventions varied, with 31% (11/36) of the studies aiming to promote self-management [ 10 , 26 , 33 - 35 , 37 , 39 , 40 , 52 , 55 , 56 ], including activities such as daily walking, medication taking, healthy eating, monitoring symptoms, and interaction management. ECAs were also used for mental therapy (3/36, 8%) [ 47 , 54 , 57 ], genetic counseling (3/36, 8%) [ 30 , 53 ], assisted living (2/36, 6%) [ 41 , 42 ], diagnosis (1/36, 3%) [ 38 ], and education (1/36, 3%) [ 43 ]. Of the 36 studies, 2 (6%) [ 32 , 36 ] used ECAs to promote exercise.…”

“…Across 67% (24/36) of the studies, we found that ECAs were given 9 different names, including ALEX [ 31 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 51 ], Tanya [ 30 , 34 , 35 , 52 , 53 ], Danya [ 43 ], Anne [ 41 , 42 , 47 , 57 ], Sylvia [ 40 ], Laura [ 10 , 26 , 37 ], Vitoria [ 39 ], iHeartHelper [ 33 ], and Ellie [ 54 ]. Of 36 studies, 14 (39%) reported that ECAs assumed the role of virtual health coaches or counselors [ 10 , 26 , 30 , 32 , 34 - 37 , 43 , 47 , 52 , 53 , 57 ], whereas others described them as virtual health assistants (n=9, 25%) [ 11 , 31 , 33 , 39 , 44 , 48 - 50 ], virtual clinicians (n=3, 8%) [ 45 , 46 , 51 ], health providers (n=2, 6%) [ 27 , 29 ], a virtual human interviewer (n=1, 3%) [ 54 ], and a semiexpert (n=1, 3%) [ 40 ]. Of the 36 studies, only 1 (3%) [ 40 ] provided basic information about the ECA, such as age, place of residence, and education level.…”