Psychosocial Effects of a Trauma-Informed Artificial Intelligence-Supported Chatbot in Adults Newly Diagnosed With Cancer
Evaluation of the Psychosocial Effects of a Trauma-Informed Care-Based Artificial Intelligence-Supported Chatbot in Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether a trauma-informed, artificial intelligence-supported chatbot can reduce psychological distress and unmet psychosocial needs in adults newly diagnosed with cancer.:
- Does the chatbot reduce trauma-related distress and anxiety levels compared to standard care?
- Does the chatbot decrease unmet psychosocial needs in patients following a new cancer diagnosis? Researchers will compare the chatbot intervention to standard care to determine whether the chatbot provides additional psychosocial benefit.
Participants will:
- Be randomly assigned to either the chatbot intervention group or the standard care group
- Use the chatbot freely for 12 weeks (intervention group only)
- Complete questionnaires at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months
- Be monitored for any psychological risk indicators during the study period
Descripción general del estudio
Estado
Intervención / Tratamiento
Descripción detallada
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a potentially traumatic experience associated with significant psychological distress, anxiety, and unmet psychosocial needs. Despite the recognized importance of psychosocial care in oncology, barriers such as limited healthcare resources, heavy workload, and insufficient access to timely support may prevent patients from receiving adequate psychosocial interventions during the early stages following diagnosis.
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is an approach that recognizes the psychological impact of traumatic experiences and aims to provide support through principles including safety, trustworthiness, empowerment, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity. Integrating TIC principles into digital health interventions may provide accessible and individualized psychosocial support for patients newly diagnosed with cancer.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a trauma-informed, artificial intelligence-supported chatbot developed to provide early psychosocial support to adults newly diagnosed with cancer. The chatbot is designed to deliver empathetic and supportive interactions grounded in trauma-informed care principles. It provides psycho-education, emotional support, coping facilitation, and guidance toward professional support resources when needed, without offering medical diagnosis or treatment recommendations.
The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial consisting of an intervention group receiving access to the chatbot in addition to standard care and a control group receiving standard care alone. Outcomes related to trauma-related distress, anxiety and psychosocial needs will be evaluated over a 12-week period.
The chatbot system incorporates predefined safety mechanisms and interaction-based monitoring to identify potential psychological risk indicators during use. Participants identified as potentially at risk may be directed toward appropriate professional support resources according to the study safety protocol.
Tipo de estudio
Inscripción (Estimado)
Fase
- No aplica
Contactos y Ubicaciones
Estudio Contacto
- Nombre: Nevra Didem Kılınç, PhD(c)
- Número de teléfono: +9 0539 436 53 17
- Correo electrónico: nozluk23@ku.edu.tr
Copia de seguridad de contactos de estudio
- Nombre: Fahriye Oflaz, Professor
- Número de teléfono: +905445452725
- Correo electrónico: foflaz@ku.edu.tr
Criterios de participación
Criterio de elegibilidad
Edades elegibles para estudiar
- Adulto
- Adulto Mayor
Acepta Voluntarios Saludables
Descripción
Inclusion Criteria:
- Over 18 years of age,
- Able to speak and understand Turkish,
- Without any cognitive, visual, or auditory impairments,
- Diagnosed with cancer within the last month (Stage I, II, and III) (regardless of cancer type),
- Have started active cancer treatment,
- Have access to a digital device and the internet,
- Volunteer to participate in the study will be included.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients participating in another simultaneous psychosocial/digital intervention study,
- Patients diagnosed with advanced stage (Stage IV) cancer, in the terminal phase and with metastases,
- Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, depression and anxiety disorders will be excluded.
Plan de estudios
¿Cómo está diseñado el estudio?
Detalles de diseño
- Propósito principal: Cuidados de apoyo
- Asignación: Aleatorizado
- Modelo Intervencionista: Asignación paralela
- Enmascaramiento: Ninguno (etiqueta abierta)
Armas e Intervenciones
Grupo de participantes/brazo |
Intervención / Tratamiento |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: Chatbot
Participants in this arm will receive access to a trauma-informed, artificial intelligence-supported chatbot designed to provide psychosocial support following a new cancer diagnosis.
The chatbot allows free-text interaction and is available for use over a 12-week period.
It is designed in line with trauma-informed care principles and provides emotional support, coping facilitation, and guidance toward professional help when needed.
Participants will also receive standard care.
Chatbot interactions will be monitored for potential psychological risk indicators, and appropriate guidance will be provided if risk is detected.
|
The intervention consists of a trauma-informed, AI-supported chatbot designed to provide psychosocial support to adults newly diagnosed with cancer.
The chatbot is grounded in trauma-informed care principles, including safety, trustworthiness, empowerment, collaboration, and sensitivity to emotional distress following diagnosis.
It enables free-text, user-initiated conversations and delivers empathetic, non-directive support aimed at facilitating emotional expression, coping, and adaptation to diagnosis.
The chatbot does not provide medical, pharmacological, nutritional, or exercise advice.
Instead, it focuses on psychosocial support and encourages users to seek professional help when appropriate.
The system incorporates predefined safety rules and continuous interaction-based risk monitoring; when indicators of psychological risk are detected, users are guided toward appropriate support resources.
Participants are granted access to the chatbot for a 12-week period.
|
|
Sin intervención: Control
Participants in this arm will receive standard care as routinely provided by the institution.
No chatbot intervention will be provided during the study period.
Participants may access usual psychosocial or clinical support services as needed
|
¿Qué mide el estudio?
Medidas de resultado primarias
Medida de resultado |
Medida Descripción |
Periodo de tiempo |
|---|---|---|
|
Trauma-related distress
Periodo de tiempo: Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
Trauma-related distress associated with cancer diagnosis will be assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).
The IES-R is a validated self-report instrument measuring intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms.
Total scores range from 0 to 88, with higher scores indicating greater trauma-related distress.
|
Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
Medidas de resultado secundarias
Medida de resultado |
Medida Descripción |
Periodo de tiempo |
|---|---|---|
|
Anxiety levels
Periodo de tiempo: Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
Anxiety will be measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which assesses both state and trait anxiety levels.
Scores for each sub-scale range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating higher anxiety levels.
|
Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
|
Unmet psychosocial needs
Periodo de tiempo: Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
Psychosocial needs will be assessed using the Psychosocial Needs Inventory (PNI), a 48-item scale evaluating the importance and fulfillment of psychosocial needs across multiple domains.
Items are scored on a 1-5 Likert scale.
Higher scores indicate greater perceived importance and/or better fulfillment of psychosocial needs.
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Baseline, 1 and 3 months
|
Colaboradores e Investigadores
Patrocinador
Investigadores
- Investigador principal: Nevra Didem Kılınç, PhD(c), Koc University
Fechas de registro del estudio
Fechas importantes del estudio
Inicio del estudio (Estimado)
Finalización primaria (Estimado)
Finalización del estudio (Estimado)
Fechas de registro del estudio
Enviado por primera vez
Primero enviado que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad
Publicado por primera vez (Actual)
Actualizaciones de registros de estudio
Última actualización publicada (Actual)
Última actualización enviada que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad
Última verificación
Más información
Términos relacionados con este estudio
Palabras clave
Términos MeSH relevantes adicionales
Otros números de identificación del estudio
- 2025.468.IRB3.232
- 325S436 (Otro número de subvención/financiamiento: TÜBİTAK)
Plan de datos de participantes individuales (IPD)
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Descripción del plan IPD
Información sobre medicamentos y dispositivos, documentos del estudio
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