SynthesisBMJ health & care informatics2026
Chatbot interventions for improving mental health among people in Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMJ health & care informatics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The use of chatbots as interventions for mental health conditions: scoping review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Pooled it
- Ethical evaluation of AI-supported mental health applications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesChatbot-delivered treatments offer tremendous mental health benefits. This systematic review aimed at examining the effectiveness of using chatbots for improving mental health among people in Asia.
methodsRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) on standalone chatbot interventions targeting mental health conditions, ranging from mental well-being to clinically relevant mental health symptoms (eg, depression, anxiety, stress, affect, distress, insomnia and psychological well-being), were included. Four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Medline) were searched until 11 December 2024.
resultsA total of eight RCTs (n=921) were included. Our meta-analysis results by random-effects models showed that chatbot interventions reduced the severity of depressive symptoms by 0.46 (95% CI -0.76 to -0.16, p=0.002, I DISCUSSION AND
conclusionChatbot-assisted therapy is a clinically beneficial and safe modality for treating depressive symptoms in the Asian context. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024546316.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.