ArticleBMJ open2026
AI chatbots for health information seeking among Chinese patients with precancerous ENT lesions: a descriptive qualitative study.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore how Chinese patients with precancerous ear, nose and throat (ENT) lesions experience using artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots for health-related information seeking, with particular attention to perceived benefits, challenges and influences on information-seeking practices.
designDescriptive qualitative study.
settingDepartment of Otolaryngology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China.
participants12 adult patients with clinically diagnosed precancerous ENT lesions who had used AI-driven chatbots at least three times in the previous 30 days to seek health-related information about their condition were purposively recruited. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews were conducted between 11 October 2024 and 10 November 2024.
resultsInterviews were analysed using Colaizzi's method. Four themes were identified. First, participants described AI chatbots as an immediate and accessible source of health information, particularly when questions arose outside clinical encounters or during periods of uncertainty. Second, many reported moving away from conventional search engines towards conversational information seeking, valuing direct and synthesised responses over link-based retrieval. Third, participants emphasised that obtaining useful answers depended on learning to ask clear and specific questions, suggesting that effective prompting was an important user skill. Fourth, some participants perceived chatbot interaction as emotionally safer than asking healthcare professionals certain questions, particularly when they felt embarrassed, worried about asking repetitive questions or feared being judged.
conclusionsAmong this sample of Chinese patients with precancerous ENT lesions, AI-driven chatbots were perceived as a convenient and conversational supplementary source of health information. Participants valued their accessibility and interactional ease, but also indicated that their usefulness depended partly on users' ability to formulate effective prompts. Some participants additionally perceived chatbots as a more comfortable channel for asking sensitive or basic questions. The findings suggest that AI chatbots may have a complementary role in patient information support, but further research is needed to evaluate response accuracy, safety and appropriate integration into clinician-led care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.