Comprehensive Summary
"This journal entry looked into how orthopaedic patients and their families are using AI-powered chatbots to access health information before and after surgery. Conducted at the Third People’s Hospital in Chengdu, the study included 13 participants—six patients and seven family members—who were interviewed between June 17 and July 16, 2024. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 61 (with an average age of 37.2) and came from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Through in-depth interviews analyzed using Colaizzi’s method, several clear patterns emerged. Many participants said they preferred using chatbots over search engines because they found them faster, more relevant, and better tailored to their personal health needs. They also valued the fact that chatbots were available at all hours and could offer guidance that felt professional and trustworthy. Some even said they felt more comfortable turning to a chatbot than a doctor, describing the AI tools as patient, non-judgmental, and emotionally supportive. A recurring observation was that the more clearly a question was phrased, the more helpful the chatbot’s response turned out to be. Participants appreciated that chatbots could provide clear, step-by-step advice for managing tasks like wound care, nutrition, recovery planning, and spotting warning signs. In comparison to general internet searches, chatbots were seen as cutting through the noise—free from distractions like ads and irrelevant content. Compared to healthcare professionals, chatbots were seen as more approachable and detailed when it came to common or routine questions.
Outcomes and Implications
The study shows strong potential for AI chatbots to play a supportive role in perioperative care, especially when it comes to patient education beyond the clinic. Because they offer immediate, personalized, and context-aware information, these tools can help ease anxiety, boost confidence, and make the surgical journey less confusing for patients and their families. There’s a clear opportunity for healthcare providers to integrate chatbots into pre-surgery evaluations and post-surgery discharge processes. Doing so could ensure that patients and caregivers have consistent, reliable access to health guidance at every stage. For chatbots to be most effective, though, clinicians and developers should help users learn how to ask questions in a way that prompts useful answers—since the quality of input directly affects the quality of responses. Maintaining medical accuracy and safety remains critical. Institutions should implement regular review procedures to monitor and update chatbot content, making sure it stays aligned with current medical standards and doesn't pose any risk. Designing chatbots with adaptive features—like simpler language options or multimedia formats—could also help reach users with different levels of health literacy. By carefully integrating chatbots into perioperative care, healthcare systems can enhance the quality of patient education, use resources more efficiently, and empower patients to take a more active role in their own recovery—especially in orthopaedic surgery settings.