Comparing ChatGPT and physicians' answers to endometriosis questions on Reddit: A blind expert evaluation

Clémence Beaulieu, Beaulieu C, C. Fortier Beaulieu, Agostini A, Aubert Agostini, Crochet P, Patrice Crochet, Carcopino X, Xavier Carcopino, Salma Touleimat, Touleimat S, Netter A, Antoine Netter, A Netter
International journal of medical informatics · 2025 · vol. 203 , pp. 106034 · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2025.106034 · PMID:40618644 · W4411966833
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⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

ChatGPT's endometriosis answers were rated higher than physicians' by experts for clarity, empathy, and clinical adherence, though both had potentially dangerous responses requiring supervision.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the perceived quality, safety, and relevance of ChatGPT responses to those provided by verified physicians on Reddit, a large online discussion platform, in response to questions related to endometriosis. METHODS: We selected 30 endometriosis-related questions posted on Reddit's r/AskDocs forum, each answered by a verified physician. Using the same question prompts, ChatGPT (GPT-3.5) generated matched-length responses. Responses were anonymized, randomized (A/B format), and assessed blindly by three university-affiliated physicians using a 11-item Likert-scale questionnaire covering medical accuracy, safety, clarity, empathy, and alignment with best practices. Evaluators also indicated which response they considered most pertinent and whether they suspected AI authorship. RESULTS: ChatGPT responses were rated significantly higher than physicians' responses on most items, including medical coherence (mean 3.89 ± 0.89 vs. 3.08 ± 0.92), clarity (3.93 ± 0.95 vs. 3.04 ± 0.99), and empathy (3.91 ± 0.93 vs. 2.76 ± 1.09), all with p-values < 0.001. Experts selected ChatGPT as the most pertinent response in 63.3 % of cases. A substantial proportion of responses from both sources were considered potentially dangerous by at least one expert: 26.7 % for ChatGPT and 60.0 % for physicians (p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: ChatGPT outperformed Reddit physicians on multiple expert-rated criteria, particularly in terms of clarity, empathy, and adherence to clinical recommendations. However, the non-negligible proportion of responses considered potentially dangerous by experts underscores the need for cautious use and appropriate supervision of such technologies.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (21)

Cited by (1)

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