Parents' information needs and perceptions of chatbots regarding self medicating their children

This qualitative study aimed to better understand parents' information needs and perceptions of chatbots for self-medicating their children and developing chatbots for self-medication. A qualitative study was employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from October 2023 to December 2023. The interview data were analysed using a thematic analysis method. A total of 26 participants were interviewed by trained interviewers. Four key themes were identified: (1) Multiple information needs for self-medication; (2) Factors promoting the use of chatbots in self-medication; (3) Factors hindering the use of chatbots in self-medication; and (4) Expectations and suggestions for chatbots design. The parents' perspective provided important insights into the design of the chatbot conversational interfaces that could help improve parents' practice of self-medicating their children. Although most participants were unfamiliar with chatbots, they were generally optimistic about their convenience, reliability, and benefits that would reduce medical burdens and cross-infection. When designing chatbots in the future, we will focus on the privacy and financial security, information recognition and cost issues to design chatbots with various transmission forms, communication interaction, health tracking and feedback functions.