Appropriateness of ChatGPT as a resource for medication‐related questions

Abstract

With its increasing popularity, healthcare professionals and patients may use ChatGPT to obtain medication‐related information. This study was conducted to assess ChatGPT's ability to provide satisfactory responses (i.e., directly answers the question, accurate, complete and relevant) to medication‐related questions posed to an academic drug information service. ChatGPT responses were compared to responses generated by the investigators through the use of traditional resources, and references were evaluated. Thirty‐nine questions were entered into ChatGPT; the three most common categories were therapeutics (8; 21%), compounding/formulation (6; 15%) and dosage (5; 13%). Ten (26%) questions were answered satisfactorily by ChatGPT. Of the 29 (74%) questions that were not answered satisfactorily, deficiencies included lack of a direct response (11; 38%), lack of accuracy (11; 38%) and/or lack of completeness (12; 41%). References were included with eight (29%) responses; each included fabricated references. Presently, healthcare professionals and consumers should be cautioned against using ChatGPT for medication‐related information.