Review of outcome measures in PARO robot intervention studies for dementia care.

The aim of this study was to describe interventions for PARO, as well as the outcomes evaluated and found following use of PARO, and to identify outcome measures in PARO intervention studies for older adults with dementia. Multiple databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Scopus) were searched and eight studies were included in the systematic review. The review demonstrated that interventions using PARO can be beneficial for improving QOL, affect, social interaction, and reducing NPS and psychotropic or pain medication use. This study identified three domains of outcome measures used to assess the effects of interventions using the PARO robot: quality of life, biological and physiological conditions, and medical treatment.