NCT04510883

Usage and Health Effects of Embodied Conversational Agents Among Older Adults

Completed NA Last updated 8 April 2021

What this trial tests

NA trial testing PACO in Eating Behavior in 52 participants. Completed in 30 December 2020.

Timeline

13 July 2020

Primary endpoint
30 December 2020

30 December 2020

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Wageningen University and Research
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	sequential
Masking	single
Primary purpose	supportive care
Enrollment	52
Start date	13 July 2020
Primary completion	30 December 2020
Estimated completion	30 December 2020
Sites	1 location across Netherlands

Drugs / interventions tested

• PACO
• Waiting list + PACO

Conditions studied

• Eating Behavior — all drugs for Eating Behavior →
• Loneliness — all drugs for Loneliness →
• Technology Use — all drugs for Technology Use →

Sponsor

Wageningen University and Research

Who can join

65 and older, any sex, with Eating Behavior or Loneliness. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

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.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Use and Effect of Embodied Conversational Agents for Improving Eating Behavior and Decreasing Loneliness Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.
   Kramer LL, van Velsen L, Clark JL, Mulder BC, et al · · 2022 · cited 13× · PMID 35404255 · DOI 10.2196/33974
2. Use and Effect of Web-Based Embodied Conversational Agents for Improving Eating Behavior and Decreasing Loneliness Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
   Kramer LL, Mulder BC, van Velsen L, de Vet E. · · 2021 · cited 9× · PMID 33404513 · DOI 10.2196/22186