Comfort and Attitudes Towards Robots Among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Uba Backonja, Amanda K Hall, Ian Painter and 5 others
PMID 30230692WHAT IT FOUND
Adults across age groups were mostly neutral or supportive about robots.
Older adults were not consistently more negative than younger adults, though comfort was low for robots caring for children or older parents.
Key findings
0174.4% of respondents did not use a robot, and 33.7% had no knowledge of robots.
02The mean overall attitude score was 3.0 on a 1 to 5 scale for every age group, showing neutral attitudes.
03Respondents were more uncomfortable with robots walking dogs, mean 3.5, caring for elderly parents, mean 3.8, or caring for children, mean 4.2, on a 1 to 5 discomfort scale.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was recruited from public places and older adult centers in one metropolitan area in the western United States. Attitudes may not match other cities or countries. 74.4% of respondents did not use a robot and 33.7% had no robot knowledge. Many attitudes may reflect little direct experience. Age groups were unequal, with 322 young adults, 50 middle-aged adults, and 102 older adults. Comparisons involving the middle-aged group had less statistical power. The study did not recruit immobile or frail older adults. It says little about patients with the greatest care needs. The European Union questions had no reliability or validity information, and the full survey reliability was not assessed. The Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale fit was less than perfect. Its items may not measure one single attitude. Open-ended comments were coded by one researcher without a second coder. The sample overrepresented Asian individuals and underrepresented Black/African American individuals compared with local census data. Researchers did not track how many people were approached or declined.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists research support from the National Institutes of Health, Extramural, and does not provide a conflict of interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that older adults reject robots or must be persuaded. The overall attitude score was neutral for all age groups, and only a few social impact and comfort items differed by age.