Usage and Health Effects of Embodied Conversational Agents Among Older Adults

Eating Behavior Clinical Trial

Official title:

Usage and Health Effects of Embodied Conversational Agents Among Older Adults

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04510883
• Other study ID #: 40-44300-98-110
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 13, 2020
• Est. completion date: December 30, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: April 2021
• Source: Wageningen University and Research
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Rationale: Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs), could be a highly effective medium to address health behaviour change among older adults. As compliance to health advice is important for positive health outcomes, successful design of persuasive ECAs can have huge health benefits. However, insights in the mechanisms underlying usage and health behaviour change via ECAs are lacking. Objective: The objective is to unravel the mechanisms behind the use of an ECA intervention, and understand the mechanism behind the observed behaviour change Study design: A randomized staggered-entry waitlist-controlled trial will be carried out. Study population: The study population consist of Dutch-speaking older adults, who live independently, are without partner, are retired, 65+ and possess basic computer skills. Intervention: The application PACO has been created for (and with) older adults with the goal to motivate them to improve their eating behaviour and decrease their feelings of loneliness. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study parameters are use, loneliness, and eating behaviour. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Subjects are not exposed to any risks, nor have they any costs. They do have to fill in questionnaires and use the application. The duration and data collection moments are needed to gain a fine-grained understanding of the use, relationship development and health change process. For subjects, the main benefit is to gain insight in their health behaviour via the PACO-application. Although this might be experienced as confronting by some. The technology was developed based on sound theories, with input from the target group, so the investigators expect positive experiences and an improvement in participants loneliness and eating behaviour. However, this can only be proven after the study.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 52
• Est. completion date: December 30, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: December 30, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 65 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Living independently at home
• Living without a partner
• No paid profession and at least 65 years of age
• Dutch speaking
• Able to use a tablet or computer
• Internet connection at home

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not willing to provide inform consent

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Eating Behavior
• Loneliness
• Technology Use

Intervention

Behavioral:
• PACO
The intervention is a fully-automated web-based eHealth application in which two embodied conversational agents engage in dialogue with older adults in order to motivate them towards dietary behavior change and decrease loneliness. The application consists of five different modules, each one applying different behavior change techniques.
• Waiting list + PACO
Waiting list + PACO

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Netherlands	Wageningen University & Research	Wageningen	Gelderland

Sponsors (5)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Wageningen University and Research	National Foundation for the Elderly, Roessingh Research and Development, WAAG, ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Netherlands, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Willingness to pay single questions	Willing to pay for PACO (y/n)	Eight weeks after intervention
Other	User experience via self-formulated open question		Four and eight weeks after intervention
Primary	Logdata on use application	Amount of time spend on the application during the 8 weeks intervention period	8 weeks
Primary	Change in De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale	Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks
Primary	Change in eating behaviour based on 24 hours recall		Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks
Secondary	Enjoyment via affect scale	Pleasure in using the application. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	Classic aesthetics Scale	The design of the application. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome.	Eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	Concern for privacy scale	Concerns about sharing personal data, e.g.name and date of birth. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome.	Four and eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	Active control scale	Control over the system, as perceived by the user. Score from 1-7, higher score means a better outcome.	Eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	System Usability Scale	Whether PACO is easy to use. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	Perceived usefulness scale	Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Eight weeks after intervention
Secondary	Rapport scale	Relationship with the embodied conversational agent. Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks
Secondary	Brief Older People's Quality of Life Scake	Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks
Secondary	Change in Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scales	Score from 1-5, higher score means a better outcome.	Four weeks before intervention to eight weeks