Parents' Information Needs and Perceptions of Chatbots for Self-Medicating Their Children: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Abstract This qualitative study aimed to better understand parents’ information needs and perceptions of chatbots for self-medicating their children and developing chatbots for self-medication. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents with at least one child between October 2023 and December 2023. The interview data were analysed using a thematic analysis method. A total of 26 participants were interviewed by trained interviewers. Four key themes were identified: 1) Multiple information needs for self-medication; 2) Factors promoting the use of chatbots in self-medication; 3) Factors hindering the use of chatbots in self-medication; and 4) Expectations and suggestions for chatbots design. This study provides a detailed understanding of parents' information needs for self-medicating their children, as well as barriers and facilitators to using chatbots, informing the future design of conversational interfaces that could help improve parents' practice of self-medicating their children.