Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39958041›Full record

ArticleCureus2025

Evaluating the Performance of ChatGPT4.0 Versus ChatGPT3.5 on the Hand Surgery Self-Assessment Exam: A Comparative Analysis of Performance on Image-Based Questions.

Kiera L Vrindten, Megan Hsu, Yuri Han, Brian Rust, Heili Truumees, Brian M Katt

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. 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

6 authors.

Kiera L VrindtenDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.
Megan HsuDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.
Yuri HanDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.
Brian RustDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.
Heili TruumeesDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.
Brian M KattDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hypothesis The emergence of ChatGPT as an artificial intelligence (AI) platform has become an increasingly useful tool in medical education, especially within resident education to supplement preparation for certification exams. As the AI model inevitably progresses, there is an increased need to establish ChatGPT's accuracy in specialty knowledge. Our study assesses the performance of ChatGPT4.0 on self-assessment questions pertaining to hand surgery in comparison to the performance of its predecessor ChatGPT3.5. A distinct feature of ChatGPT4.0 is its ability to interpret visual input which ChatGPT3.5 cannot. We hypothesize that ChatGPT4.0 will perform better on image-based questions than ChatGPT3.5. Methods This study used 10 self-assessment exams from 2004 to 2013 from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). Performance on image-based questions was compared between ChatGPT4.0 and ChatGPT3.5. The primary outcome was the total score as a proportion of answers correct. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of questions for which ChatGPT4.0 provided elaborations, the length of those elaborations, and the number of questions for which ChatGPT4.0 provided answers with confidence. Descriptive analysis, Student's t-test, and one-way ANOVA tests were used for data analysis. Results Out of 455 image-based questions, there was no statistically significant difference in the total score between ChatGPT4.0 and ChatGPT3.5. ChatGPT4.0 answered 137 (30.1%) questions correctly while ChatGPT3.5 answered 131 (28.7%) correctly (p= 0.805). Although there was no significant difference in the length or frequency of elaborations in relation to the proportion of correct answers between the two versions, ChatGPT4.0 did provide significantly longer explanations overall compared to ChatGPT3.5 (p<0.05). Moreover, of the 455 total image-based questions, ChatGPT4.0 provided significantly less confident answers compared to ChatGPT3.5 (p<0.05). Of those responses in which ChatGPT4.0 expressed uncertainty, there was a significant difference based on image type, with the highest uncertainty stemming from question stems involving radiograph-based images (p<0.001). Summary points Overall, there was no significant difference in performance between ChatGPT4.0 and ChatGPT3.5 when answering image-based questions on the ASSH self-assessment examinations. Notably, however, ChatGPT4.0 expressed more uncertainty with answers. Further exploration of how AI-generated responses influence user behavior in clinical and educational settings will be crucial to optimizing the role of AI in healthcare.

Indexed as

aicertificationchatgpteducationself-assessment

Identifiers

PMID39958041
PMCPMC11829751

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.