User Engagement with A Multimodal Conversational Agent for Self-Care and Chronic Disease Management: A Retrospective Analysis.
| Title: | User Engagement with A Multimodal Conversational Agent for Self-Care and Chronic Disease Management: A Retrospective Analysis. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Colakoglu S; Department of Clinical Development, Albert Health, Istanbul, Turkey.; Durmus M; Department of Clinical Development, Albert Health, Istanbul, Turkey.; Polat ZP; Department of Clinical Development, Albert Health, Istanbul, Turkey.; Yildiz A; Department of Clinical Development, Albert Health, Istanbul, Turkey.; School of Medicine, Biruni University, Istanbul, Turkey.; Sezgin E; The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA. emre.sezgin@nationwidechildrens.org.; The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA. emre.sezgin@nationwidechildrens.org. |
| Source: | Journal of medical systems [J Med Syst] 2025 Jun 09; Vol. 49 (1), pp. 76. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Jun 09. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7806056 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-689X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01485598 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Med Syst Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 1999- : New York, NY : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers; Original Publication: New York, Plenum Press. |
| MeSH Terms: | Self Care*/methods ; Mobile Applications*/statistics & numerical data ; Communication* ; Disease Management* ; Patient Participation*; Chronic Disease/therapy ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Telemedicine ; Aged |
| Abstract: | Introduction: Understanding user engagement with conversational agents is key to their sustainable use in mobile health and improving patient outcomes. This retrospective study analyzed interactions with a multimodal conversational agent in the Albert Health app to identify usage patterns and barriers to long-term engagement in self-care and chronic disease management.; Methods: We retrospectively analyzed interactions from 24,537 users of a Turkish-language mobile health app (between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023). Interactions with the app's multimodal conversational agent (voice and text) were categorized by demographics, interaction type, and engagement mode. Descriptive statistics summarized patterns, while Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, and logistic regression identified group differences and predictors of sustainable engagement.; Results: Most users were female (56%) and aged 30-45 (44%). The majority (92%) used general health programs, with only 8% in disease-specific ones. Common interaction types included health information (32%), small talk (20%), and clinical parameter logging (16%; e.g., blood pressure). Voice use was frequent in fallback (80%; unclear/ out-of-scope input), small talk (64%), and medication tasks (53%), while screen input was more common for clinical logging (61%) and health queries (59%). Engagement peaked in the first week and declined after 10 days. Sustainable engagement was associated with disease-specific program use (OR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.60-0.74, p |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Disclosure Statement: S.C., Z.P.P., M.D. and A.Y. are employees of Albert Health (developer of the mobile app). No other disclosures were reported. Ethics Declarations: The study was approved by the Biruni University Ethics Committee (Approval No. 2023/83 − 18) and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Participants received no payment or other compensation for their participation in the survey. Informed Consent was obtained from all participants. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Clinical Trial Number: Not applicable. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Chronic Disease Management; Conversational Agent; Voice Assistant; mHealth |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20250609 Date Completed: 20250609 Latest Revision: 20250612 |
| Update Code: | 20260130 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC12148993 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10916-025-02202-2 |
| PMID: | 40488988 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article