OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of different types of care robots with the recent development of technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), robots, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and to determine the future direction for care robot development.

METHODS: This study was conducted in accordance with the methods outlined in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. We searched seven databases including Ovid-MEDLINE, Ovid-Medline, Ovid-Embase, Cochrane library, KISS, KoreaMed, RISS, and CINAHL., till June 28, 2023.

RESULTS: The literature was searched from June 22 to 28, 2023, in 7 domestic and foreign databases, and 9,948 documents were reviewed. 37 documents were finally selected. Doll-type care robots only showed positive emotional effects, but these positive effects disappeared after long-term intervention. In contrast, tablet-type care robots showed impacts on hospital admission incidents, the number of falls, and emotional effects. The reason is that they are combined with wearable devices or Artificial Intelligence, providing various types of information, basic care support such as medication and schedule notifications, and recreation. Recently developed robots with tablet-type functions showed high satisfaction because they have touch screens, human voice interaction, gestures, as well as notification functions like medication guidance and schedule management. By examining care robots by type, it was found that robots with tablet-type functions are the most promising for future development due to their comprehensive benefits and high user satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS: The development of a care robot with Artificial Intelligence technology that performs tasks considering the type, target, and characteristics of older individuals is expected to further alleviate the burden of care workers.