The utility of ChatGPT as a generative medical translator

• Published in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology 2024-11, Vol.281 (11), p.6161-6165
• Main Authors: Grimm, David R., Lee, Yu-Jin, Hu, Katherine, Liu, Longsha, Garcia, Omar, Balakrishnan, Karthik, Ayoub, Noel F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comprehension; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Language; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurosurgery; Otolaryngology; Otorhinolaryngology; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Short Communication; Translating; Translations
• ISSN: 0937-4477; 1434-4726; 1434-4726
• DOI: 10.1007/s00405-024-08708-8

Purpose Large language models continue to dramatically change the medical landscape. We aimed to explore the utility of ChatGPT in providing accurate, actionable, and understandable generative medical translations in English, Spanish, and Mandarin pertaining to Otolaryngology. Methods Responses of GPT-4 to commonly asked patient questions listed on official otolaryngology clinical practice guidelines (CPG) were evaluated with the Patient Education materials Assessment Tool-printable (PEMAT-P.) Additional critical elements were identified a priori to evaluate ChatGPT’s accuracy and thoroughness in its responses. Multiple fluent speakers of English, Mandarin, and Spanish evaluated each response generated by ChatGPT. Results Total PEMAT-P scores differed between English, Mandarin, and Spanish GPT-4 generated responses depicting a moderate effect size of language, Eta-Square 0.07 with scores ranging from 73 to 77 (P-value = 0.03). Overall understandability scores did not differ between English, Mandarin, and Spanish depicting a small effect size of language, Eta-Square 0.02 scores ranging from 76 to 79 (P-value = 0.17), nor did overall actionability scores Eta-Square 0 score ranging 66–73 (P-value = 0.44). Overall a priori procedure-specific responses similarly did not differ between English, Spanish, and Mandarin Eta-Square 0.02 scores ranging 61–78 (P-value = 0.22). Conclusion GPT-4 produces accurate, understandable, and actionable outputs in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. Responses generated by GPT-4 in Spanish and Mandarin are comparable to English counterparts indicating a novel use for these models within Otolaryngology, and implications for bridging healthcare access and literacy gaps. Level of evidence IV.