Anxiety, Health Information Seeking Behavior
Conditions
Keywords
Artificial intelligence, Anxiety, ChatGPT, Gemini, Health information seeking, Large language model (LLM), Patient satisfaction
Brief summary
This study is a one-time, questionnaire-based survey of adults attending a urology outpatient clinic. The investigators will examine whether patients who use AI chat tools based on large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, before seeking care differ from non-users in (1) anxiety, (2) satisfaction with the clinic visit, and (3) awareness/understanding of their health condition. Participants who provide written informed consent will complete a brief survey during their clinic visit (about 5-7 minutes). The survey includes a standardized anxiety scale (GAD-7), visual analog scales (0-10) for anxiety before and after the visit, satisfaction, and disease awareness, as well as questions about AI/LLM knowledge and use. Treating clinicians will not have access to participants' survey responses, and participation will not affect clinical care.
Detailed description
The TALK-U study is a cross-sectional, observational survey conducted in the urology outpatient clinic of Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital. The primary exposure is self-reported AI/LLM knowledge and use for health information (e.g., whether participants have used ChatGPT or similar tools, frequency, awareness of AI, and purpose of use). The primary outcome is anxiety measured by GAD-7 at the time of the clinic encounter. Secondary outcomes include (i) anxiety assessed on a 0-10 visual analog scale before and after the visit, (ii) outpatient visit satisfaction (0-10 VAS), and (iii) perceived disease awareness/understanding (0-10 VAS). Eligible adult first-time urology outpatients who can complete the survey independently and provide informed consent will be invited during a 2-month recruitment period. Analyses will compare outcomes between AI/LLM users and non-users and explore associations with age group (\<40, 40-60, \>60), education level, and urology subspecialty category. Data will be analyzed using appropriate parametric/nonparametric tests depending on distribution, with p \< 0.05 considered statistically significant.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Dr Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18 years or older * First-time visit to the Urology Outpatient Clinic * Able to read and write and complete the questionnaire independently * Able to provide written informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Age under 18 years * Insufficient literacy to understand and complete the questionnaire * Severe hearing or visual impairment, or a neurological/psychiatric condition that prevents understanding and completing the survey * Refusal or inability to provide informed consent * Currently under follow-up for a known urologic condition (i.e., not a first-time urology outpatient visit)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-visit Anxiety (VAS 0-10) | Day 0 (immediately before the outpatient visit) | Self-rated anxiety on a 0-10 visual analog scale (VAS), where 0 indicates no anxiety and 10 indicates the highest possible anxiety. This measure reflects visit-related state anxiety prior to clinician encounter. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Post-visit Anxiety (VAS 0-10) | Day 0 (immediately after the outpatient visit) | Self-rated anxiety on a 0-10 VAS (0 = none, 10 = highest). |
| Visit Satisfaction (VAS 0-10) | Day 0 (immediately after the outpatient visit) | Self-rated satisfaction with the outpatient visit on a 0-10 VAS (0 = not satisfied at all, 10 = maximum satisfaction). |
| Disease Awareness/Understanding (VAS 0-10) | Day 0 (during the outpatient clinic visit) | Self-rated awareness/understanding of one's condition on a 0-10 VAS (0 = none, 10 = complete). |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline General Anxiety Symptoms (GAD-7 Total Score) | Day 0 (at enrollment; prior to or during the clinic visit) | Total score on the 7-item GAD-7 questionnaire (range 0-21; higher scores indicate greater generalized anxiety symptoms). This measure will be used to account for baseline anxiety (trait-like symptoms) and to adjust analyses of VAS-based state anxiety out |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Contacts
Primary ContactTuncel Uzel, MD
Backup ContactMehmet Duvarcı, MD
Outcome results
None listed