Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40811649›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Evaluating chatbots in psychiatry: Rasch-based insights into clinical knowledge and reasoning.

Yu Chang, Si-Sheng Huang, Wen-Yu Hsu, Yi-Chun Liu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  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

4 authors.

Yu ChangDepartment of Psychiatry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9954-921X
Si-Sheng HuangPost Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Wen-Yu HsuSchool of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yi-Chun LiuPost Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1590-1904

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chatbots are increasingly being recognized as valuable tools for clinical support in psychiatry. This study systematically evaluated the clinical knowledge and reasoning of 27 leading chatbots in psychiatry. Using 160 multiple-choice questions from the Taiwan Psychiatry Licensing Examinations and Rasch analysis, we quantified performance and qualitatively assessed reasoning processes. OpenAI's ChatGPT-o1-preview emerged as the top performer, achieving a Rasch ability score of 2.23, significantly surpassing the passing threshold (p < 0.001). While it excelled in diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning, it also demonstrated notable limitations in factual recall, niche topics, and occasional reasoning biases. Our findings indicate that while advanced chatbots hold significant potential as clinical decision-support tools, their current limitations underscore that rigorous human oversight is indispensable for patient safety. Continuous evaluation and domain-specific training are crucial for the safe integration of these technologies into clinical practice.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetencePsychiatryFemaleGenerative Artificial IntelligenceHumansMaleTaiwan

Identifiers

PMID40811649
PMCPMC12352759

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.