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The inclusion of social determinants of health into evaluations of quality and appropriateness of AI assistant-ChatGPT

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 27, page 157 (2024)Cite this article

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Cocci et al.’s 2023 [1] study offers an insightful evaluation of whether ChatGPT provides evidence-based recommendations to urology patients. It is noteworthy that although included in the case study data, the authors did not address the need for ChatGPT to evaluate these responses in the context of demographic patient differences such as social determinants of health (SDOH) defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age [2]. Responses are evaluated by accuracy, comprehensiveness and clarity yet the authors do not address ChatGPT’s ability to assess responses as it relates to patient demographics pertaining to the SDOH, such as education and health care access, which contributes up to 80% of our health outcomes and directly relate to the key health concerns of interest in the study [2].

The American Medical Association (AMA) “Health Disparities: Social Determinants of Health,” education module in the AMA Ed Hub Health Systems Science Learning Series [3], teaches medical students to ask questions that assess socioeconomic factors. For instance, physicians are taught to ask patients “Do you have difficulty making ends meet at the end of the month?” and to follow up with questions about access to resources for transportation, local food pantries, or shelters.

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References

  1. Cocci A, Pezzoli M, Lo Re M, Russo GI, Asmundo MG, Fode M, et al. Quality of information and appropriateness of ChatGPT outputs for urology patients. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2023;1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-023-00705-y. [Epub ahead of print].

  2. Hood CM, Gennuso KP, Swain GR, Catlin BB. County health rankings: relationships between determinant factors and health outcomes. Am J Prev Med. 2016;50:129–35.

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  3. American Medical Association Ed Hub Health System Science Learning Series. April 25, 2019. Health Disparities: Social Determinants of Health. Available at https://edhub.ama-assn.org/health-systems-science/interactive/17498806. (Accessed 5 July 2023).

  4. Wesson P, Hswen Y, Valdes G, Stojanovski K, Handley MA. Risks and opportunities to ensure equity in the application of big data research in public health. Annu Rev Public Health. 2022;43:59–78.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Yulin Hswen

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA

    Thu T. Nguyen

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  1. Yulin Hswen
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  2. Thu T. Nguyen
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YH and TTN researched and wrote the article.

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Correspondence to Yulin Hswen.

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Hswen, Y., Nguyen, T.T. The inclusion of social determinants of health into evaluations of quality and appropriateness of AI assistant-ChatGPT. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 27, 157 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-023-00720-z

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