Development and Early Feasibility of Chatbots for Educating Patients With Lung Cancer and Their Caregivers in Japan: Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND: Chatbots are artificial intelligence–driven programs that interact with people. The applications of this technology include the collection and delivery of information, generation of and responding to inquiries, collection of end user feedback, and the delivery of personalized health and medical information to patients through cellphone- and web-based platforms. However, no chatbots have been developed for patients with lung cancer and their caregivers. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate the early feasibility of a chatbot designed to improve the knowledge of symptom management among patients with lung cancer in Japan and their caregivers. METHODS: We conducted a sequential mixed methods study that included a web-based anonymized questionnaire survey administered to physicians and paramedics from June to July 2019 (phase 1). Two physicians conducted a content analysis of the questionnaire to curate frequently asked questions (FAQs; phase 2). Based on these FAQs, we developed and integrated a chatbot into a social network service (phase 3). The physicians and paramedics involved in phase I then tested this chatbot (α test; phase 4). Thereafter, patients with lung cancer and their caregivers tested this chatbot (β test; phase 5). RESULTS: We obtained 246 questions from 15 health care providers in phase 1. We curated 91 FAQs and their corresponding responses in phase 2. In total, 11 patients and 1 caregiver participated in the β test in phase 5. The participants were asked 60 questions, 8 (13%) of which did not match the appropriate categories. After the β test, 7 (64%) participants responded to the postexperimental questionnaire. The mean satisfaction score was 2.7 (SD 0.5) points out of 5. CONCLUSIONS: Medical staff providing care to patients with lung cancer can use the categories specified in this chatbot to educate patients on how they can manage their symptoms. Further studies are required to improve chatbots in terms of interaction with patients.