Family health history (FHx) is one of the simplest and most cost‐effective and efficient ways to collect health information that could help diagnose and treat genetic diseases at an early stage. This study evaluated the efficacy of collecting such family health histories through a virtual conversational agent (VCA) interface, a new method for collecting this information. Standard and VCA interfaces for FHx collection were investigated with 50 participants, recruited via email and word of mouth, using a within‐subject experimental design with the order of the interfaces randomized and counterbalanced. Interface workload, usability, preference, and satisfaction were assessed using the NASA Task Load Index workload instrument, the IBM Computer System Usability Questionnaire, and a brief questionnaire derived from the Technology Acceptance Model. The researchers also recorded the number of errors and the total task completion time. It was found that the completion times for 2 of the 5 tasks were shorter for the VCA interface than for the standard one, but the overall completion time was longer (17 min 44 s vs. 16 min 51 s, p = .019). We also found the overall workload to be significantly lower (34.32 vs. 42.64, p = .003) for the VCA interface, and usability metrics including overall satisfaction (5.62 vs. 4.72, p < .001), system usefulness (5.76 vs. 4.84, p = .001), information quality (5.43 vs. 4.62, p < .001), and interface quality (5.66 vs. 4.64, p < .001) to be significantly higher for this interface as well. Approximately 3 out of 4 participants preferred the VCA interface to the standard one. Although the overall time taken was slightly longer than with standard interface, the VCA interface was rated significantly better across all other measures and was preferred by the participants. These findings demonstrate the advantages of an innovative VCA interface for collecting FHx, validating the efficacy of using VCAs to collect complex patient‐specific data in health care.

中文翻译：

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虚拟对话代理收集的家庭健康史：一项调查这种方法有效性的实证研究。

家族健康史 (FHx) 是收集健康信息的最简单、最具成本效益和最有效的方法之一，有助于早期诊断和治疗遗传疾病。本研究评估了通过虚拟会话代理 (VCA) 界面收集此类家庭健康史的效果，这是一种收集此类信息的新方法。FHx 收集的标准和 VCA 界面对 50 名参与者进行了调查，这些参与者通过电子邮件和口耳相传招募，使用受试者内实验设计，界面顺序随机和平衡。使用 NASA 任务负载指数工作负载工具、IBM 计算机系统可用性问卷和源自技术接受模型的简短问卷对界面工作负载、可用性、偏好和满意度进行了评估。研究人员还记录了错误的数量和任务完成的总时间。发现 VCA 接口的 5 项任务中有 2 项的完成时间比标准的要短，但总体完成时间更长（17 分 44 秒对 16 分 51 秒，p  = .019）。我们还发现，VCA 接口的总体工作量显着降低（34.32 对 42.64，p  = .003），可用性指标包括总体满意度（5.62 对 4.72，p  < .001）、系统有用性（5.76 对4.84, p  = .001), 信息质量 (5.43 vs. 4.62, p  < .001), 和界面质量 (5.66 vs. 4.64, p < .001) 对于此接口也明显更高。大约四分之三的参与者更喜欢 VCA 接口而不是标准接口。尽管所用的总时间略长于标准接口，但 VCA 接口在所有其他测量中的评分明显更好，并且受到参与者的青睐。这些发现证明了创新 VCA 界面在收集 FHx 方面的优势，验证了使用 VCA 收集医疗保健中复杂的患者特定数据的有效性。