Short Communication
“Alexa, Am I pregnant?”: A content analysis of a virtual assistant’s responses to prenatal health questions during the COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.12.026Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Disruption in prenatal care is an opportunity to utilize mhealth to support patients.

  • Amazon Alexa’s responses were not credible in answering common pregnancy questions.

  • Virtual assistants rendering evidence-based replies are valuable supplements to care.

  • Virtual assistants, like Alexa, cannot replace consultations with health providers.

Abstract

Objective

To elucidate whether Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, provides evidence-based support as a supplement to provider-facilitated prenatal care, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Using a conceptual content analysis approach, a query of 40 questions, relating to all phases of pregnancy, was collected from Alexa by two independent investigators, using two unique devices, over a one-week period between May 20, 2020 and May 27, 2020. Alexa’s responses were matched to the evidence-based content from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and reviewed by a Certified Nurse Midwife for completeness and currency.

Results

Of the 40 questions asked of Alexa, it was unable to answer 14 questions (35%). A total of 21 out of the 40 responses (52%) were not evidence-based and three COVID-specific questions (about 1%) were answered incorrectly or insufficiently. Four questions (10%) were answered accurately.

Conclusion

Alexa was largely unable to provide evidence-based answers to commonly asked pregnancy questions and, in many cases, supplied inaccurate, incomplete, or completely unrelated answers that could further confuse health consumers.

Practice Implications

Ensuring that mobile health (mhealth) tools, such as Amazon Alexa, are evidence-based and credible in answering common prenatal questions has important implications for this pandemic and future consumer needs.

Keywords

Women’s health
Health promotion
Maternal/infant health
Reproductive health
Technology
Prenatal care

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