Chinese Internet Searches Provide Inaccurate and Misleading Information to Epilepsy Patients

Evaluating the performance of the language model ChatGPT in responding to common questions of people with epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

People with epilepsy desire to acquire accurate information about epilepsy and actively engage in its management throughout the long journey of living with seizures. ChatGPT is a large language model and we aimed to assess the accuracy and consistency of ChatGPT in responding to the common concerns of people with epilepsy and to evaluate its ability to provide emotional support.

METHODS

Questions were collected from the International League against Epilepsy and the China Association against Epilepsy. The responses were independently assessed by two board-certified epileptologists from the China Association against Epilepsy, and a third reviewer resolved disagreements. The reviewers assessed its ability to provide emotional support subjectively.

RESULTS

A total of 378 questions related to epilepsy and 5 questions related to emotional support were included. ChatGPT provided "correct and comprehensive" answers to 68.4% of the questions. The model provided reproducible answers for 82.3% questions. The model performed poorly in answering prognostic questions, with only 46.8% of the answers rated as comprehensive. When faced with questions requiring emotional support, the model can generate natural and understandable responses.

SIGNIFICANCE

ChatGPT provides accurate and reliable answers to patients with epilepsy and is a valuable source of information. It also provides partial emotional support, potentially assisting those experiencing emotional distress. However, ChatGPT may provide incorrect responses, leading users to inadvertently accept incorrect and potentially dangerous advice. Therefore, the direct use of ChatGPT for medical guidance is not recommended and its primary use at present is in patients education.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV Vaccine Awareness among Korean American Immigrants in Alabama: Would Internet Use Improve Health Awareness?

INTRODUCTION

Although the HPV vaccine is known to prevent associated cancers, studies found a low awareness among Korean Americans (KA). This study aimed to examine the HPV and HPV vaccine awareness among KA in Alabama.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 278 KA residing in Alabama to understand the levels of HPV and HPV vaccine awareness and associated factors.

RESULTS

Those who heard of HPV were 31.7% and 29.5% for HPV vaccine. Those who were older than 50 years old and married were less likely to hear of HPV and HPV vaccine. Those who were female and had annual health check-ups were more likely to hear of both. Using the Internet for health information was positively associated with HPV vaccine awareness.

DISCUSSION

HPV education tailored to sociodemographic and using the Internet might be an effective strategy in improving the HPV and HPV vaccine awareness levels.

Epilepsy on social media in Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian languages

INTRODUCTION

The Internet and social media are becoming increasingly important medical information sources, bringing advantages and disadvantages. The extent of social media use may help to develop a strategy for providing relevant information, enhancing patients' social status, and the work of medical practitioners in chronic medical conditions such as epilepsy.

AIM

The aim of this study was to help better understand the factors of social media that may affect patients' knowledge of the disease, health education, emotional stability, thinking, and decisions in the treatment process.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied the representation of epilepsy among social media users in Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian languages. Our observational study analyzed 1000 randomized posts and videos on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, containing the keywords "epilepsy" or "seizure." Posts were divided into three categories: topics, data sources, and the nature of the engagement.

RESULTS

The most common topic among social media users was the stigmatization of patients (31%). The most prevalent data source was support groups for PWE (45.4%). The nature of the engagement was most dominant on the occasion of the exchange of information, i.e., advice (40%).

CONCLUSION

The participation of medical professionals on social media is not adequately represented in Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian language platforms. The presence of medical professionals on social media could increase the credibility of the information available to users, educate patients, and reduce the prevalence of stigma.

Epilepsy on social media: An exploratory study of Arabic language content

This exploratory study provides an overview of Arabic language content for epilepsy available on three social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, from the time that the platforms came into being up to the end of the year 2020. Two Arabic keywords that mean "epilepsy" and "convulsion" were used on the search engine of each platform to extract related content. Two reviews were conducted for 300 randomly selected pages, accounts, and videos from a total of 795 related published ones on the targeted platforms. Results revealed that Arabic language content related to epilepsy on social media platforms has been available for about one decade. Various sources from almost all Arab countries contributed to the content. Most of the content (43%) was from medical and healthcare professionals and institutions. Definition and classification of epilepsy were the most common topics (21%) within posts and shares. Moreover, seeking information and advice were the dominant types of engagement found among users (32%). Findings of the study suggest that more attention on content for underrepresented topics is required and that enhanced engagement by health professionals and specialists with the users on social media platforms would be beneficial. Implications for current use and available content related to epilepsy on social media, as well as related recommendations, are included.

Reliability of information about the use of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy from three major web search engines in China

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of online information, as provided by three major search engines in China, about the usage of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy.

METHOD

Over eight weeks, six physicians conducted a literature search on six computers and six smartphones at a frequency of once per week. During each web search on each computer and smartphone, three major search engines in China were used, namely, Baidu, Sogou and 360. The search terms used were a combination of words, including one AED name (valproate/oxcarbazepine/levetiracetam/lamotrigine) and one Chinese word ("huaiyun" or "renshen", which means pregnancy in Chinese). The top ten websites retrieved from each search were recorded. After the content of each website was evaluated, the sites were categorized into 9 types. Meanwhile, commercial advertisements on each web page were also registered.

RESULTS

A total of 16,411 search results were assessed. After excluding the redundant web pages, 4840 search results were included in the data analysis. Only 12.05% of the search results were reliable, 47.75% were partly reliable, and 40.21% were unreliable. A total of 4139 (85.52%) webpages contained commercial advertisements. The results from a multivariate analysis suggested that websites with no advertisements and professional websites have an independent positive impact on reliability.

CONCLUSION

Overall, little information on AED usage during pregnancy provided by major search engines in China was reliable.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Accurate and professional online information for female patients with epilepsy should be provided through major efforts by the government, search engine companies, professional websites and epilepsy physicians.

Information about epilepsy on the internet: An exploratory study of Arabic websites

The aim of this study was to explore information about epilepsy found on Arabic websites. The researchers collected information from the internet between November 2016 and January 2017. Information was obtained using Google and Yahoo search engines. Keywords used were the Arabic equivalent of the following two keywords: epilepsy (Al-saraa) and convulsion (Tashanoj). A total of 144 web pages addressing epilepsy in Arabic were reviewed. The majority of web pages were websites of medical institutions and general health websites, followed by informational and educational websites, others, blogs and websites of individuals, and news and media sites. Topics most commonly addressed were medical treatments for epilepsy (50% of all pages) followed by epilepsy definition (41%) and epilepsy etiology (34.7%). The results also revealed that the vast majority of web pages did not mention the source of information. Many web pages also did not provide author information. Only a small proportion of the web pages provided adequate information. Relatively few web pages provided inaccurate information or made sweeping generalizations. As a result, it is concluded that the findings of the present study suggest that development of more credible Arabic websites on epilepsy is needed. These websites need to go beyond basic information, offering more evidence-based and updated information about epilepsy.

Health Literacy and Use and Trust in Health Information

There is a need to investigate which health information sources are used and trusted by people with limited health literacy to help identify strategies for addressing knowledge gaps that can contribute to preventable illness. We examined whether health literacy was associated with people's use of and trust in a range of potential health information sources. Six hundred participants from a GfK Internet survey panel completed an online survey. We assessed health literacy using the Newest Vital Sign, the sources participants used to get health information, and the extent to which participants trusted health information from these sources. We performed multivariable regressions, controlling for demographic characteristics. Lower health literacy was associated with lower odds of using medical websites for health information and with higher odds of using television, social media, and blogs or celebrity webpages. People with lower health literacy were less likely to trust health information from specialist doctors and dentists, but more likely to trust television, social media, blogs/celebrity webpages, friends, and pharmaceutical companies. People with limited health literacy had higher rates of using and trusting sources such as social media and blogs, which might contain lower quality health information compared to information from healthcare professionals. Thus, it might be necessary to enhance the public's ability to evaluate the quality of health information sources. The results of this study could be used to improve the reach of high-quality health information among people with limited health literacy and thereby increase the effectiveness of health communication programs and campaigns.