Chatbots as Digital Health Interventions for Adults with Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review

The objective of this scoping review is to systematically map the landscape of chatbot-based digital health interventions targeting adults with chronic conditions. In addition, we aim to 1) describe the findings according to chronic disease target by the technology; 2) identify the type of chatbots available; and 3) explore specific theoretical-methodological approaches used for chatbot messaging development. This review will answer the following research question: What are the main characteristics of the use of chatbots as digital health interventions for adult patients with chronic conditions? Following the JBI recommendations, we used the PCC (Population, Concept, Context) strategy to develop the review question and narrow down the descriptors, and papers inclusion and exclusion criteria. The population for this study is adult patients with chronic conditions. The principal concept explored in this review is the use of chatbots as DHI for adults with chronic conditions, and the context for this scoping review is digital health interventions. This scoping review will include studies published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 10 years with full text available in English, Spanish or Portuguese. We will consider different methodologies, such as randomized control trials, non-randomized control trials, mixed-method, methodological, quantitative and qualitative designs. Book chapters that answered our research question will also be included. We will exclude reviews, protocol papers, laws, decrees, and policies. We will also exclude papers that discuss the potential of chatbots for adults with chronic conditions but don’t describe the technology's development, use, or evaluation. To synthesize and report our findings, we will follow the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.