Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies (N=65).
| Parameters and characteristics | Studies, n (%)a | |||
| Study metadata | ||||
|
|
Study design | |||
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Survey | 41 (63) | |
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|
|
Quasi-experiment | 11 (17) | |
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|
|
Randomized controlled trial | 13 (20) | |
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|
Type of publication | |||
|
|
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Journal article | 37 (57) | |
|
|
|
Conference proceeding | 25 (39) | |
|
|
|
Thesis | 3 (5) | |
|
|
Country | |||
|
|
|
United States | 33 (51) | |
|
|
|
France | 5 (8) | |
|
|
|
Netherlands | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
Japan | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
Australia | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
Italy | 2 (3) | |
|
|
|
Switzerland and Netherlands | 2 (3) | |
|
|
|
Finland | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Sweden | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Turkey | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
United Kingdom | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Switzerland & Germany | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Mexico | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Spain | 1 (2) | |
|
|
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Global population | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Romania, Spain and Scotland | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Philippines | 1 (2) | |
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|
|
Switzerland | 1 (2) | |
|
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|
New Zealand | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Spain and New Zealand | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
South Africa | 1 (2) | |
|
|
Year of publication | |||
|
|
|
Before 2010 | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
2010-2014 | 17 (26) | |
|
|
|
2015-2019 | 45 (70) | |
| Population characteristics | ||||
|
|
Sample sizeb | |||
|
|
|
≤50 | 38 (62) | |
|
|
|
51-100 | 11 (18) | |
|
|
|
101-200 | 9 (15) | |
|
|
|
>200 | 3 (5) | |
|
|
Age (years)c | |||
|
|
|
Mean (range) | 39 (13-79) | |
|
|
Sex (%)e | |||
|
|
|
Male | 48.1 | |
|
|
Health conditionf | |||
|
|
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Clinical sample | 34 (55) | |
|
|
|
Nonclinical sample | 28 (45) | |
|
|
Settingg,h | |||
|
|
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Clinical | 30 (50) | |
|
|
|
Community | 20 (33) | |
|
|
|
Educational | 18 (30) | |
| Intervention characteristics | ||||
|
|
Purposei | |||
|
|
|
Self-management | 17 (26) | |
|
|
|
Therapy | 12 (19) | |
|
|
|
Counselling | 12 (19) | |
|
|
|
Education | 10 (15) | |
|
|
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Screening | 9 (14) | |
|
|
|
Training | 7 (11) | |
|
|
|
Diagnosing | 3 (5) | |
|
|
Platform | |||
|
|
|
Stand-alone software | 40 (62) | |
|
|
|
Web-based | 25 (39) | |
|
|
Response generation | |||
|
|
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Rule-based | 53 (82) | |
|
|
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Artificial intelligence | 11 (17) | |
|
|
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Hybrid | 1 (2) | |
|
|
Dialogue initiative | |||
|
|
|
Chatbot | 58 (89) | |
|
|
|
Users | 4 (6) | |
|
|
|
Both | 3 (5) | |
|
|
Input modality | |||
|
|
|
Text | 40 (62) | |
|
|
|
Voice | 9 (14) | |
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|
|
Voice and nonverbal | 8 (12) | |
|
|
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Text and voice | 6 (9) | |
|
|
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Text and nonverbal | 2 (3) | |
|
|
Output modality | |||
|
|
|
Text, voice and nonverbal | 21 (32) | |
|
|
|
Text | 20 (31) | |
|
|
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Voice and nonverbal | 19 (29) | |
|
|
|
Text & voice | 4 (6) | |
|
|
|
Voice | 1 (2) | |
|
|
Targeted disordersj | |||
|
|
|
Any health condition | 20 (31) | |
|
|
|
Depression | 15 (23) | |
|
|
|
Autism | 5 (8) | |
|
|
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Anxiety | 5 (8) | |
|
|
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Substance use disorder | 5 (8) | |
|
|
|
Posttraumatic stress disorder | 5 (8) | |
|
|
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Mental disorders | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
Sexually transmitted diseases | 3 (5) | |
|
|
|
Sleep disorders | 2 (3) | |
|
|
|
Diabetes | 2 (3) | |
|
|
|
Alzheimer | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Asthma | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Cervical cancer | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Dementia | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Schizophrenia | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Stress | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Genetic variants | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Cognitive impairment | 1 (2) | |
|
|
|
Atrial fibrillation | 1 (2) | |
|
| ||||
aPercentages were rounded and may not sum to 100.
bSample size was reported in 61 studies.
cMean age was reported in 44 studies.
dN/A: not applicable.
eSex was reported in 54 studies.
fSample type was reported in 62 studies.
gSetting was reported in 61 studies.
hNumbers do not add up as several chatbots focused on more than one health condition.
iNumbers do not add up as several chatbots have more than one purpose.
jNumbers do not add up as several chatbots target more than one health condition.