A Social Robot for Explaining Medical Tests and Procedures: An Exploratory Study in the Wild

Healthcare professionals often have little time to explain medical tests and procedures. Social robots capable of verbal dialogues may contribute to informing patients and the public in general about such tests and procedures, for example in general practitioner or hospital waiting rooms, nursery homes, as well as in public spaces. As an example of latter, an exploratory study was conducted at the Lowlands music festival in August 2022. A social robot explained a blood pressure measurement and a grip strength measurement to participants. Participants were asked to value the expected clarity of the explanation before the explanation, the experienced clarity after the robot explanation but before the actual physical measurements, and after the physical measurements. 172 participants completed the interaction (99 female, 57 male, 8 non-binary, 8 undisclosed). The mean interaction duration was 2.02 minutes (SD=0.40 minutes). Participants found the explanation after the interaction with Pepper clearer than they expected beforehand. Participants found the clarity of the explanation, after they had actually undergone the physical examination, even higher than before the physical examination. This study indicates that social robots are potentially useful to explain medical tests and procedures.

Automated summary

Social robots capable of verbal dialogues have been shown to be potentially useful in explaining medical tests and procedures. A study conducted at a music festival and medical institutions demonstrated that participants were satisfied with the explanations provided by the social robots, and their clarity ratings increased after undergoing the actual physical examinations.