Physician-Supervised ChatGPT-Assisted Versus Physician-Led Informed Consent for Reducing Preoperative Anxiety: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Surgical Oncology
• Patient Education

Background:

• Preoperative anxiety (PA) is a common concern for patients undergoing urologic procedures.
• Informed consent (IC) is a critical step in managing patient expectations and anxiety.
• The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare offers potential for innovative patient communication strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if ChatGPT-assisted informed consent (IC) is noninferior to conventional physician-led IC in alleviating preoperative anxiety (PA).
• To assess the impact of AI-assisted IC on the duration of the informed consent process.
• To evaluate postoperative quality of recovery (QoR) in patients receiving AI-assisted versus physician-led IC.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, open-label randomized controlled trial involving 161 adult patients undergoing specific urologic surgeries.
• Patients were randomized to either AI-assisted or physician-led IC.
• Primary outcome: change in anxiety measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-1); Secondary outcomes: IC duration and QoR-15 scores.

Main Results:

• Both AI-assisted and physician-led IC significantly reduced STAI-1 scores post-intervention.
• No significant difference in anxiety reduction was observed between the AI-assisted and control groups (noninferiority confirmed).
• IC duration was similar between groups; however, the control group showed a statistically significant higher QoR-15 score.

Conclusions:

• ChatGPT-assisted IC is a viable alternative to physician-led IC for reducing preoperative anxiety without extending the consent process.
• Large language models like ChatGPT can serve as supplementary tools in physician-led informed consent.
• Further research may explore optimizing AI integration to enhance postoperative recovery alongside anxiety reduction.