Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40690141›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of clinical pharmacy2025

Conversational agents for pharmaceutical use: insights from the eCCo database.

Mara Pereira Guerreiro, Helga Rafael Henriques, Elena Mugellini, Leonardo Angelini

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of clinical pharmacy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mara Pereira GuerreiroNursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon, Nursing School of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. mguerreiro@egasmoniz.edu.pt.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8192-6080
Helga Rafael HenriquesNursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon, Nursing School of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-4485
Elena MugelliniSchool of Management, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Fribourg, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0775-0862
Leonardo AngeliniSchool of Management, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Fribourg, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8802-5282

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Conversational agents are computer programmes designed to replicate bidirectional human conversation through spoken or written language, potentially supplemented with nonverbal features. The eCCo database is a searchable repository of primary studies on conversational agents in health and well-being. It catalogs 657 papers currently, published between 1991 and 2022; 51 address the use of medicines. Most of these papers focus on usability rather than rigorous effectiveness or implementation research, underscoring a need for more robust evaluation. The largest category of conversational agents for pharmaceutical use consists of non-embodied agents (n = 24), followed by virtual embodiment only (n = 19), most using virtual humans (n = 16). This database facilitates the comparison and appraisal of existing research in this field, while contributing to a more nuanced understanding of this technology through multidimensional attributes. We aim to enhance the database accuracy and expand its completeness beyond 2022 with the support of the global research community.

Indexed as

CommunicationDatabases, FactualHumansArtificial intelligenceConversational agentsDigital healthMedication adherenceSelf-managementVirtual humans

Identifiers

PMID40690141

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.