Getting regular cervical cancer screenings and completing the full series of HPV vaccines is vital for staying healthy. However, many people find the process confusing or difficult to navigate. New research looks at how digital assistants, such as conversational chatbots and gamely health apps, can help bridge that gap.
By looking at 13 different studies, researchers found that these digital tools are easy for people to use and generally well received. Specifically, these tools showed short-term success in getting people to book HPV vaccine appointments and increasing the number of people who underwent cytology, which is a common screening test. One specific type of game-based tool also showed a link to higher rates of detecting precancerous cells.
While these results are promising for short-term goals, there are hurdles. For example, high dropout rates mean it is currently hard to tell if these apps can help people finish their entire multi-dose vaccine series. Because many of these programs included multiple different features at once, it is also hard to pinpoint exactly which part of the technology did the heavy lifting. Talk to your doctor about the best way to manage your screening schedule.
