Evaluation of the reliability and risks of ChatGPT-4o in answering pediatric cough questions - A comparative analysis between pediatricians and pediatric pulmonologists

Sep 28, 2026

Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly used for health guidance, yet their reliability in pediatric respiratory contexts remains uncertain. This study evaluates the trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value, and potential danger of ChatGPT-4o responses to frequently asked pediatric cough questions. Ten cough-related questions were answered by ChatGPT-4o and rated by pediatric pulmonologists and pediatricians via an online questionnaire, with results compared across clinician groups.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusion

OPEN ACCESS Citation: Çağlar HT, Özdemir Kaçer E, Pekcan S, Ayman FN (2025) Evaluation of the reliability and risks of ChatGPT-4o in answering pediatric cough questions: A comparative analysis between pediatricians and pediatric pulmonologists. PLoS One 20(12): e0340007 . [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340007](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340007) Editor: Gauri Mankekar, LSU Health Shreveport, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Received: July 18, 2025 Accepted: December 15, 2025 Published: December 31, 2025 Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal). pone.0340007 Copyright: © 2025 Çağlar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, RESEARCH ARTICLE Evaluation of the reliability and risks of ChatGPT-4o in answering pediatric cough questions: A comparative analysis between pediatricians and pediatric pulmonologists Hanife Tuğçe Çağlar1*, Emine Özdemir Kaçer2, Sevgi Pekcan1, Fatma NurAyman1 1 Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, Necmettin Erbakan University School of Medicine, Konya, Turkey, 2 Department of Pediatrics, Aksaray University School of Medicine, Aksaray, Turkey * [h.tugce.s@gmail.com](h.tugce.s@gmail.com) Abstract Introduction Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly used by patients and healthcare professionals, yet their reliability in pediatric respiratory conditions remains unclear. This study aims to assess the trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value, and potential dangers of ChatGPT-4o-generated responses to frequently asked questions about the management and care of cough in children. Materials and methods A total of 10 cough-related questions were selected for ChatGPT-4o. The questions and responses generated by ChatGPT-4o are presented to 32 pediatric pulmonologists and 32 pediatricians. An online questionnaire was developed for this study. Participants rated the answers generated by ChatGPT-4o on a scale of 1–10 in terms of trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value, and danger. Higher scores indicate higher levels of trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value and danger. In addition, a yes/no question asked participants if there was anything wrong with the answer generated by ChatGPT-4o. Results The ChatGPT-4o-generated answers were generally rated by participants as trustworthy (median:6 .45, IQR:1 .97), valuable (median:6 . 15, IQR:2 .30), comprehensive (median:6 . 15, IQR:1 .83), and not dangerous (median:4 .35, IQR:2 .65) . There was a statistically significant difference in all overall ratings between pulmonologists and pediatricians. Pediatricians rated ChatGPT-4o-generated answers as more trustworthy, valuable, comprehensive, and less dangerous compared to pediatric pulmonologists. For each of the ten questions, at least one participant indicated that there PLOS One | [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340007](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340007) December 31, 2025 1 / 10 and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data availability statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting information files. Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. was something wrong with the ChatGPT-4o-generated response. However, for no question did the proportion of “yes” responses exceed 50%, indicating that concerns were not universally shared among participants. Conclusion Our study highlights both the potential benefits and limitations of C

FAQs

What does the study evaluate about ChatGPT-4o responses for pediatric cough questions?

It assesses trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value, and potential danger of ChatGPT-4o-generated answers to commonly asked pediatric cough questions.

How were participants asked to judge the ChatGPT-4o answers?

Thirty-two pediatric pulmonologists and thirty-two pediatricians rated the answers on a 1–10 scale for trustworthiness, comprehensiveness, value, and danger, and also answered a yes/no question about whether anything was wrong.

What overall differences were observed between pediatric pulmonologists and pediatricians?

Statistically significant differences appeared across all overall ratings; pediatricians rated the answers as more trustworthy, more valuable, more comprehensive, and less dangerous than pediatric pulmonologists.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by WPS_1790064749