S1360 Can Voice Assistances (VA) Help Guide Hepatitis B Vaccination and Liver Disease Screening for the General Population?

Abstract

Introduction: Engaging in behaviors that promote individual and population wellness continues to be a public health challenge; this pressing societal need requires innovative solutions. As the market for voice assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri) grows and people increasingly use them to assist in their daily tasks, there is a pressing need to explore how voice assistant (VA) technology can improve health-related behavior. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global cause of morbidity and mortality. Hepatitis B vaccines are highly effective in preventing infection and subsequent disease transmission and are safe. We did this study to determine if VAs provide clinically appropriate advice regarding Hepatitis B Vaccination and Hepatitis B virus. Methods: Four voice assistants: Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana, were tested. Voice recordings were done for 5 commonly asked questions regarding Hepatitis B vaccination and Liver Disease. The authors decided if each of the four VAs provided clinically appropriate advice. Fisher exact testing was done to compare the results of each VA against each other. Results: We found that clinically appropriate advice was provided 100% by Apple Siri, 60% by Amazon Alexa, 80% by Google Assistant, and 40% of the time by Microsoft Cortana (Table). Conclusion: The VAs provided accurate advice about when to start Hepatitis B Vaccination, including the May 2021 USPSTF recommendation. However, none of the VAs instructed participants to speak to a healthcare provider, which we believe is vital to any medically related search results. Most of the VAs performed well in our study, but we believe there is a need for improvement, especially with technology becoming more ingrained in our everyday lives.Figure 1.: Assessment of the clinical appropriateness of voice assistance results regarding Hepatitis B and Liver Disease.