Roles of Chatbot on a Decision of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Purchasing in Adult Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Pimnipa Thoumrungroje¹, Austtasit Chainarong², Puthachad Namwaing³, Kittisak Sawanyawisuth⁴, Bundit Sawunyavisuth¹

Affiliation : ¹ Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration and Accountancy, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand, ² Faculty of Sport Science, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand, ³ Department of Physical Therapy, Khon Kaen Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand, ⁴Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease in clinical practice. To reduce risks of OSA consequences, a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is needed. Chatbot is an artificial intelligence which is classified as conversational agents. Chatbot may be a helpful tool to assist patients with OSA and reduce physicians’ workload regarding a decision on CPAP purchasing. This study aimed to evaluate if chatbot can be a helpful tool on a decision on CPAP purchasing.
Materials and Methods: This was an intervention study. The inclusion criteria were adult patients diagnosed as OSA and had an experience on CPAP trial. The primary outcome of the study was a decision on CPAP purchasing after chatbot intervention. All patients were categorized into two groups after chatbot intervention: purchased CPAP and did not purchase CPAP. Factors and outcomes were compared between both groups.
Results: There were 29 patients with OSA participated in the present study. Of those, 6 patients (20.69%) decided to purchase CPAP. The CPAP purchasing group had higher visits on chatbot than the non-purchasing group on the following items: Treatment of OSA, What is CPAP?, reimbursement of CPAP, types of CPAP and price. The CPAP purchasing group also spent more times in chatbot than the non-purchasing group (3.83 vs. 3.30 minutes; p=0.678). After chatbot intervention, 2 patients (33.33%) changed a decision of CPAP purchasing from deciding to purchased, while 3 patients who wanted to purchase a CPAP changed their minds. There were 6 patients (20.69%) who did not need to see a doctor after chatbot intervention; mostly in the group who did not purchase CPAP (5 patients; 83.33%).
Conclusion: Chatbot is a helpful tool to provide knowledge or cognitive ability on CPAP and may improve a decision of CPAP purchasing.

DOI:10.35755/jmedassocthai.2023.S01.13791

Keywords : Management; Artificial intelligence; Knowledge; Control

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