ArticleJMIR formative research2022
A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Chatbot (Otis) for Health Anxiety Management: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.
Article in JMIR formative research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does the Digital Therapeutic Alliance Exist? Integrative Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- What patients want from healthcare chatbots: insights from a mixed-methods study.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Article
- Charting the evolution of artificial intelligence mental health chatbots from rule-based systems to large language models: a systematic review.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025Article
- Usability, Engagement, and Report Usefulness of Chatbot-Based Family Health History Data Collection: Mixed Methods Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Chatbots and COVID-19: Taking Stock of the Lessons Learned.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- An Integrative Survey on Mental Health Conversational Agents to Bridge Computer Science and Medical Perspectives.Proceedings of the Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing. Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing · 2023Article
- Exploring Young Adults' Views About Aroha, a Chatbot for Stress Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic: Interview Study Among Students.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Finding the sweet spot: a qualitative study exploring patients' acceptability of chatbots in genetic service delivery.Human genetics · 2023Article
- Performance of emergency triage prediction of an open access natural language processing based chatbot application (ChatGPT): A preliminary, scenario-based cross-sectional study.Turkish journal of emergency medicineArticle
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn increase in health anxiety was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to physical distancing restrictions and a strained mental health system, people were unable to access support to manage health anxiety. Chatbots are emerging as an interactive means to deliver psychological interventions in a scalable manner and provide an opportunity for novel therapy delivery to large groups of people including those who might struggle to access traditional therapies.
objectiveThe aim of this mixed methods pilot study was to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, engagement, and effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based chatbot (Otis) as an early health anxiety management intervention for adults in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsUsers were asked to complete a 14-day program run by Otis, a primarily decision tree-based chatbot on Facebook Messenger. Health anxiety, general anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, personal well-being, and quality of life were measured pre-intervention, postintervention, and at a 12-week follow-up. Paired samples t tests and 1-way ANOVAs were conducted to investigate the associated changes in the outcomes over time. Semistructured interviews and written responses in the self-report questionnaires and Facebook Messenger were thematically analyzed.
resultsThe trial was completed by 29 participants who provided outcome measures at both postintervention and follow-up. Although an average decrease in health anxiety did not reach significance at postintervention (P=.55) or follow-up (P=.08), qualitative analysis demonstrated that participants perceived benefiting from the intervention. Significant improvement in general anxiety, personal well-being, and quality of life was associated with the use of Otis at postintervention and follow-up. Anthropomorphism, Otis' appearance, and delivery of content facilitated the use of Otis. Technical difficulties and high performance and effort expectancy were, in contrast, barriers to acceptance and engagement of Otis.
conclusionsOtis may be a feasible, acceptable, and engaging means of delivering CBT to improve anxiety management, quality of life, and personal well-being but might not significantly reduce health anxiety.
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