BACKGROUND Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a well-established treatment for panic disorder, but many fewer patients receive this treatment compared to medication-based therapy. Mobile app-based interactive CBT using a chatbot can increase patient access to CBT. We performed a preliminary study to determine whether short-term use of a newly developed chatbot is feasible and effective for relieving panic symptoms. METHOD Forty-one patients were randomly assigned to either a chatbot group (n = 21) or control group (n = 20) for a period of 4 weeks. The chatbot group was guided in the use of the chatbot application, while the control group was provided with a book on panic disorder. MAIN RESULTS The severity of panic disorder was significantly decreased in the chatbot group, but not in the control group. The social phobia score was significantly decreased and the control helplessness score was significantly increased in the chatbot group compared to the control group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION We found that mobile app-based interactive CBT using the chatbot was feasible and effective for reducing the severity of panic symptoms. Using this novel approach to provide CBT would allow clinicians to effect positive therapeutic outcomes with easy accessibility, interactivity, and self-management for patients with panic symptoms.

中文翻译：

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使用聊天机器人应对恐慌症的基于移动应用程序的交互式认知行为疗法的功效。

背景技术认知行为疗法（CBT）是针对恐慌症的行之有效的疗法，但是与基于药物的疗法相比，接受这种疗法的患者要少得多。使用聊天机器人的基于移动应用程序的交互式CBT可以增加患者对CBT的访问权限。我们进行了一项初步研究，以确定短期使用新开发的聊天机器人对于缓解恐慌症状是否可行且有效。方法41名患者被随机分为聊天机器人组（n = 21）或对照组（n = 20），为期4周。聊天机器人小组在使用聊天机器人应用程序方面得到了指导，而对照组则收到了一本关于恐慌症的书。主要结果聊天机器人组惊恐障碍的严重程度显着降低，而对照组则没有。与对照组相比，聊天机器人组的社交恐惧症评分显着降低，而对照组的无助评分则显着提高。讨论和结论我们发现，使用聊天机器人的基于移动应用程序的交互式CBT对于减轻恐慌症状的严重性是可行和有效的。使用这种新颖的方法来提供CBT，将使临床医生能够以容易获得的方式，互动性和自我管理的方式对患有惊慌症状的患者产生积极的治疗效果。