Perceived Utilities of COVID-19 Related Chatbots in Saudi Arabia: a Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Health chatbots are increasingly being utilized in healthcare to combat COVID-19. However, few studies have explored the perception and willingness of end-users toward COVID-19-related chatbots. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia. AIM: This paper explored 166 end-users’ perceived utilities of health chatbots in Saudi Arabia, and how their characteristics affect their perceptions. METHODS: We conducted a quantitative descriptive study by implementing an online survey. The survey asked 20 questions on participants’ demographics and their perception of health chatbots’ usefulness. RESULTS: We found that users were more willing to use health chatbots to seek general information about COVID-19 (82.5%) over seeking information regarding COVID-19 medical treatments (72.3%). Furthermore, participants with undergraduate degrees tend to use them to learn how to prevent COVID-19’s spread (P = 0.015), to self-track COVID-19 symptoms (P = 0.028), and to seek information about medication (P = 0.035) in comparison to those who had postgraduate degrees. Participants who frequently searched for health information on the internet were more likely to look for nearby medical services using health chatbots (P = 0.023). Lastly, participants who provided any sort of healthcare services information were more likely to self-assess COVID-19 symptoms by using health chatbots (P = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Participant awareness and use of health chatbots were low; however, most had positive perceptions of these emerging technologies and displayed willingness to use them. Further research is needed to capture the real-world usability of these novel technologies by employing more rigid methodological designs (e.g, field trials).