Artificial Intelligence Support for Informal Patient Caregivers: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Artificial Intelligence
• Healthcare Technology and Informatics

Background:

• The global aging population increases demand for informal caregivers.
• Existing research and healthcare practices have a gap in addressing caregiver burden.
• Informal caregivers are crucial for supporting elderly individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting informal caregivers.
• To identify current AI applications and their effectiveness in caregiving.
• To fill the research gap concerning AI's impact on caregiver burden.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across major academic databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, Web of Science).
• Adherence to PRISMA 2020 guidelines for study selection and screening.
• Inclusion of studies focusing on AI support for informal caregivers, published between 2012-2023.

Main Results:

• Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, globally distributed and published between 2012-2023.
• Eighty percent of the studies utilized machine learning techniques for AI development.
• Reported accuracies ranged from 71.60% to 99.33%, with specific models achieving high accuracy (93.42%-95.36%) and F-measures (93.30%-95.41%).

Conclusions:

• AI demonstrates significant potential in aiding informal caregivers and reducing their burden.
• AI tools offer smart, adaptive support, improving caregiver effectiveness and overall well-being.
• Further research is needed to explore diverse AI approaches and their long-term impact on caregiving.