ChatGPT is an Unreliable Source of Peer‐Reviewed Information for Common Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasty Patient Questions
Authors: Schwartzman Jonathan D. , Shaath M. Kareem , Kerr Matthew S. , Green Cody C. , Haidukewych George J. 
Published: January 2025

Background: Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and publicly accessible language model tools such as ChatGPT‐3.5 continue to shape the landscape of modern medicine and patient education. ChatGPT’s open access (OA), instant, human‐sounding interface capable of carrying discussion on myriad topics makes it a potentially useful resource for patients seeking medical advice. As it pertains to orthopedic surgery, ChatGPT may become a source to answer common preoperative questions regarding total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA). Since ChatGPT can utilize the peer‐reviewed literature to source its responses, this study seeks to characterize the validity of its responses to common TKA and THA questions and characterize the peer‐reviewed literature that it uses to formulate its responses.

Methods: Preoperative TKA and THA questions were formulated by fellowship‐trained adult reconstruction surgeons based on common questions posed by patients in the clinical setting. Questions were inputted into ChatGPT with the initial request of using solely the peer‐reviewed literature to generate its responses. The validity of each response was rated on a Likert scale by the fellowship‐trained surgeons, and the sources utilized were characterized in terms of accuracy of comparison to existing publications, publication date, study design, level of evidence, journal of publication, journal impact factor based on the clarivate analytics factor tool, journal OA status, and whether the journal is based in the United States.

Results: A total of 109 sources were cited by ChatGPT in its answers to 17 questions regarding TKA procedures and 16 THA procedures. Thirty‐nine sources (36%) were deemed accurate or able to be directly traced to an existing publication. Of these, seven (18%) were identified as duplicates, yielding a total of 32 unique sources that were identified as accurate and further characterized. The most common characteristics of these sources included dates of publication between 2011 and 2015 (10), publication in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (13), journal impact factors between 5.1 and 10.0 (17), internationally based journals (17), and journals that are not OA (28). The most common study designs were retrospective cohort studies and case series (seven each). The level of evidence was broadly distributed between Levels I, III, and IV (seven each). The averages for the Likert scales for medical accuracy and completeness were 4.4/6 and 1.92/3, respectively.

Conclusions: Investigation into ChatGPT’s response quality and use of peer‐reviewed sources when prompted with archetypal pre‐TKA and pre‐THA questions found ChatGPT to provide mostly reliable responses based on fellowship‐trained orthopedic surgeon review of 4.4/6 for accuracy and 1.92/3 for completeness despite a 64.22% rate of citing inaccurate references. This study suggests that until ChatGPT is proven to be a reliable source of valid information and references, patients must exercise extreme caution in directing their pre‐TKA and THA questions to this medium.