Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39286736›Full record

ArticleOTO open

Evaluating ChatGPT as a Patient Education Tool for COVID-19-Induced Olfactory Dysfunction.

Elliott M Sina, Daniel J Campbell, Alexander Duffy, Shreya Mandloi, Peter Benedict, Douglas Farquhar, Aykut Unsal, Gurston Nyquist

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in OTO open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Artificial intelligence in otorhinolaryngology: current trends and application areas.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Elliott M SinaSidney Kimmel Medical College Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.ORCID 0009-0004-8473-8965
Daniel J CampbellDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Alexander DuffyDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Shreya MandloiDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Peter BenedictDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Douglas FarquharDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Aykut UnsalDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
Gurston NyquistDepartment of Otolaryngology Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: While most patients with COVID-19-induced olfactory dysfunction (OD) recover spontaneously, those with persistent OD face significant physical and psychological sequelae. ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, has grown as a tool for patient education. This study seeks to evaluate the quality of ChatGPT-generated responses for COVID-19 OD. Study Design: Quantitative observational study. Setting: Publicly available online website. Methods: ChatGPT (GPT-4) was queried 4 times with 30 identical questions. Prior to questioning, Chat-GPT was "prompted" to respond (1) to a patient, (2) to an eighth grader, (3) with references, and (4) no prompt. Answer accuracy was independently scored by 4 rhinologists using the Global Quality Score (GCS, range: 1-5). Proportions of responses at incremental score thresholds were compared using Results: Across all graded responses (n = 480), 364 responses (75.8%) were "at least good" (GCS ≥ 4). Proportions of responses that were "at least good" ( Conclusion: ChatGPT provides appropriate answers to most questions on COVID-19 OD regardless of prompting. However, prompting influences response quality and grade level. ChatGPT responds at grade levels above accepted recommendations for presenting medical information to patients. Currently, ChatGPT offers significant potential for patient education as an adjunct to the conventional patient-physician relationship.

Indexed as

AI hallucinationanosmiaartificial intelligencechatbotChatGPTCOVID‐19Flesch‐Kincaid grade levelolfactory dysfunctionpatient educationprompting

Identifiers

PMID39286736
PMCPMC11403001

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.