ArticleNPJ digital medicine2025
Patient perceptions of empathy in physician and artificial intelligence chatbot responses to patient questions about cancer.
Article in NPJ digital medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Effectiveness and Feasibility of Conversational Agents in Supporting Care for Patients With Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- The Use of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots by Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Staying Connected? Revaluing 'Relationship Goods' in Digital Health Ecologies.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Exploring needs and priorities in digital health management for rare disease patients and their caregivers: A mixed-methods study.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Evaluating Digital Health Innovation: The Case for Person-Centred Care Metrics Alongside Efficiency.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Physician-revised AI-generated drafts are associated with higher ratings of written explanations in end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: a scenario-based single-center cross-sectional study.Journal of intensive care · 2026Article
- User evaluation of AI- and human-generated responses in digital health communication: a paired survey study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Large Language Models as Health Information Tools: Patient Use and Trust in Otolaryngology.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- Perceptions of simulated artificial intelligence in medical consultations: associations with stress, memory, and perceived credibility.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Network and machine learning analysis of childhood trauma, mental health, and AI-based emotional support needs in adolescents from underdeveloped regions.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- When Cancer Clots: An Extensive Radiologic Analysis of Cancer-Associated Thromboembolism.Cancers · 2026Review
- Human-AI Interaction in Kidney Transplant Decision Support Systems: Qualitative Study of Patient and Support Person Expectations.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- AI chatbots for health information seeking among Chinese patients with precancerous ENT lesions: a descriptive qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Blocking the Reflection: Milestones and Hurdles for Digital Twins in Mental Health.Pharmacopsychiatry · 2026Review
- Artificial intelligence in genomic medicine: dispelling three myths.NPJ genomic medicine · 2026Article
- Eye-Tracked Visual Attention to Anthropomorphic Appearance and Empathic Responses in AI Medical Conversational Agents: Dissociating Trust Gains from Attentional Synergy.Journal of eye movement research · 2026Article
- The risk of empty empathy talk and challenges of automated empathy in healthcare communication.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Review
- Comparison of Emotional Content in Text Responses From Physicians and AI Chatbots to Patient Health Queries: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Information leaflets vs artificial intelligence: comparing perceptions of stroke survivors and professionals in a mixed-methods study.European stroke journal · 2026Article
- The potential of artificial intelligence in clinical trials.European journal of clinical investigation · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Artificial intelligence chatbots can draft empathetic responses to cancer questions, but how patients perceive chatbot empathy remains unclear. Here, we found that people with cancer rated chatbot responses as more empathetic than physician responses. However, differences between patient and physician perceptions of empathy highlight the need for further research to tailor clinical messaging to better meet patient needs. Chatbots may be effective in generating empathetic template responses to patient questions under clinician oversight.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.