Medication is an important approach of treatment for patients with schizophrenia; however, the availability of visiting nurses and other human-related support is limited. This study aims to build a system in which service robots support the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia with medication at home. Moreover, medical staff can seamlessly monitor the status of their patients through the robots using this system. In this study, to develop a support system, interactions between a communication robot and patients were surveyed, with a focus on the patients’ impression of the robot and actual utterance times. Communication between a commercially available communication robot and schizophrenic patients was investigated, particularly the participants’ feelings about the robot. In addition, the utterance data between the participants and the robot were extracted and the durations of the conversations were assessed. The examined interaction mode of a robot (talkative or not talkative) and whether the participant spoke or not (spoke or did not speak) revealed no significant association in all adjectives. A co-occurrence network graph showed differences in the participants’ impressions of the robot depending on how talkative the robot was. That is, when the robot did not initiate conversation often, the patient was more likely to initiate interactions and use longer phrases than when the robot initiated conversation frequently. Conversations also lasted longer when the participant, not the robot, initiated conversation. People with schizophrenia converse with a robot regardless of whether the robot is talkative or not. Since the content of the conversation was not analyzed qualitatively, it is necessary to carefully examine whether people with schizophrenia can develop partnerships with robots.

中文翻译：

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使用通讯机器人与精神分裂症患者交谈

药物治疗是精神分裂症患者的重要治疗方法。但是，访问护士和其他与人有关的支持有限。这项研究旨在构建一个系统，其中服务机器人可以在家中通过药物支持对精神分裂症患者的治疗。此外，医务人员可以使用该系统通过机器人无缝地监视患者的状况。在本研究中，为了开发支持系统，调查了通信机器人与患者之间的交互，重点是患者对机器人的印象和实际发声时间。调查了市售的通信机器人与精神分裂症患者之间的通信，特别是参与者对机器人的感受。此外，提取参与者与机器人之间的话语数据，并评估对话的持续时间。所检查的机器人交互模式（有声或无声）以及参与者是否讲话（说话或不讲话）都表明在所有形容词中没有明显的关联。同现网络图显示了参与者对机器人的印象的差异，具体取决于机器人的健谈程度。即，当机器人不经常发起对话时，与机器人频繁发起对话时相比，患者更有可能发起交互并使用更长的短语。当参与者（而不是机器人）发起对话时，对话也会持续更长时间。精神分裂症患者会与机器人交谈，无论机器人是否健谈。