Abstract summary 

We investigated the impact of using a companion robot on the mental state of a community-dwelling older adult who was receiving home-visit rehabilitation services during the state of emergency for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).This case involved an 80-year-old woman with compression fractures of lumbar vertebrae 1 and 2. Her medical history included hypothyroidism, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and depression. The companion robot used was Smibi, a healing baby robot that responds in various ways depending on how the user interacts with it. The patient interacted (e.g., hugging, conversing) with Smibi for 30 minutes per day for 1 month, from April 2020 (immediately before the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan) to May 2020. The patient was evaluated with the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) before and after using Smibi.The SDS score decreased from 37 points to 26 points after the use of Smibi. The items related to diurnal variation, sleep, despair about the future, and dissatisfaction decreased by 2-3 points.Our findings suggest that interacting with Smibi may improve depression in older adults who have been forced to refrain from going out due to the spread of COVID-19. Future studies with long-term follow-up and large sample sizes are required to confirm the effectiveness of companion robots in improving depression among community-dwelling older adults.

Authors & Co-authors:  Ito Suzumura Kanada Narukawa Sakurai Makino Abiko Oi Kondo

Study Outcome 

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