Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ahmed, Arfan
• Ali, Nashva
• Aziz, Sarah
• Abd-alrazaq, Alaa A
• Hassan, Asmaa
• Khalifa, Mohamed
• Elhusein, Bushra
• Ahmed, Maram
• Ahmed, Mohamed Ali Siddig
• Househ, Mowafa

Titel

A review of mobile chatbot apps for anxiety and depression and their self-care features

Ist Teil von

• Computer methods and programs in biomedicine update, 2021, Vol.1, p.100012, Article 100012

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •We reviewed 11 unique chatbot based apps that address anxiety and depression.•All the apps were available on Google Play Store and/or App store•The popularity and quality of anxiety and depression based chatbot apps was high.•Such apps provide a unique opportunity for cost effective alternative approaches to meet shortfall in health professionals. Anxiety and depression rates are at an all-time high. Smartphone-based mental health chatbots can aid psychiatrists replacing some of the costly human based interaction providing a unique opportunity to expand the availability and quality of mental health intervention whilst providing an alternative approach to fill the much-needed self-care gap. Assess the quality and characteristics of chatbots for anxiety and depression available on Android and iOS systems. A search was performed in the App Store and Google Play Store following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol to identify existing chatbot apps for anxiety and depression. Eligibility was assessed by two individuals based on predefined eligibility criteria. Meta-data of the included chatbots and their characteristics were extracted from their description and post-installation by two reviewers. Information on quality was assessed by following the mHONcode principles. Only a handful (n=11) of chatbots were included from an initial search of 1000 that provide a substitute for human-human based interaction and clearly had a therapeutic human substitute goal in mind. The majority of reviewed apps had a high number of downloads indicating their popularity. The apps were also of a general high quality based on our assessment according to the mHONcode principles. The general popularity of apps reviewed, and results of our quality assessment indicate chatbots have a promising future within the realm of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression chatbot apps have the potential to increase the capacity of mental health self-care providing much needed low-cost assistance to professionals.