Patients share more with virtual docs

Patients are more willing to disclose private health information during a clinical interview with a virtual human, according to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior.

University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies researchers recruited 239 participants for the study. Half of the participants were told their conversations were not being observed and were computer automated, while the others were informed that a person in another room was manipulating the virtual human. Each person was asked a series of questions about medical issues and specific health symptoms.

Compared to those who believed they were interacting with a human operator, participants who thought they were interacting with a computer reported lower fear of self-disclosure, lower impression management, displayed their sadness more intensely and were rated by observers as more willing to disclose, the researchers found.

“These results suggest that automated [virtual humans] can help overcome a significant barrier to obtaining truthful patient information,” concluded the study.