Hybrid Interactive Avatars for Post-COVID Sufferers (HINT)

University Hospital of Cologne

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06218849

16SV9183

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate an app to improve communication and information flows for persons suffering from Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). The main questions it aims to answer are:

• How can custom virtual characters (avatars) help to collect more data for the diagnosis of PCS?
• Can conversations with virtual (mobile) characters (avatars) and the presentation of health data help to improve the diagnosis and understanding of PCS?
• How should these virtual characters (avatars) be designed for people with PCS and healthcare professionals to be useful in the long term? This concerns appearance, dialog, personality and functions.

Participants will be asked to use and test the app and take part in two interviews at the beginning and end of the study.

Full description

The overarching goal of the HINT project is to develop an app that people affected by PCS can use on their own devices in a language of their choice (e.g. their native language) to increase their health and data literacy about PCS and to provide socially equitable access to PCS care. Multilingual avatars are used for independent data collection, as the embodiment of interaction systems offers advantages for health queries. The data collected during the survey and - if desired - data from wearables are combined with historical data from the participants, processed and visualized. This allows patients to communicate with their avatar as well as with medical staff about their illness and its progression without language barriers affecting treatment. The avatar can also inform patients about new research findings on PCS. To this end, the system's level of knowledge is constantly compared with the current state of science; new findings are prepared for the target group and added to the knowledge base. The project is aimed at all those affected by PCS, although the multilingualism and low-threshold health education are intended to appeal in particular to people who have previously had difficulty accessing adequate care. The project is aimed at all those affected by PCS, although the multilingualism and low-threshold health education are intended to appeal in particular to people who have previously had difficulty accessing adequate care. The participatory and iterative development of the system, which also involves medical staff, contributes to overarching issues relating to co-creation approaches in the healthcare sector.

Enrollment: 130 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Existence of a declaration of consent

• Stable clinical condition

• Diagnosis of Post-COVID syndrome according to the World Health Organization (WHO):

  • Symptoms persist for more than 12 weeks
  • Duration: at least 2 months
  • Etiology: no alternative diagnosis
  • Progression: persistent, recurrent, fluctuating

Exclusion criteria

• Known psychiatric or somatic illness that can explain the symptoms