Integrative dermatology consists of evidence-based dietary interventions, supplements, and lifestyle modifications to improve treatment and patient quality of life. Integrative therapies can potentiate the effects of current treatment while avoiding polypharmacy. With up to 40% of patients in the USA utilizing complementary and alternative medicine, it is important that individuals have a safe and accurate source of information to guide their approach towards integrative medicine.¹

The increasing demand on our healthcare system has made it difficult for patients to have access to healthcare appointments and contact with practitioners. With dermatology visits estimated to average 14.7 minutes long,² and healthcare providers receiving an increasing workload of administrative tasks,³ it can be difficult for a clinician to incorporate discussions of supplemental therapies into a patient visit.

Chat generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT) is an artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to process and respond to natural human language. Previous AI chat models have been evaluated in their efficacy in responding to cancer-related questions on social media. This study found that the AI model was consistently producing higher quality, more empathetic, and easier to read responses compared to physician responses.⁴ With ChatGPT quickly becoming one of the most popular AI chat models, it is important that we evaluate its safety and efficacy in answering patient queries regarding integrative dermatology.

This study received IRB approval from the Allendale IRB on February 8, 2024. The anonymous survey was administered via SurveyMonkey and sent to practitioners of integrative dermatology and patients. An informed consent statement was acknowledged at the beginning of the survey although surveys remained anonymous. Participants were offered a $10 gift card for their participation in the survey.

We created nine queries regarding supplements, diet, and lifestyle within the realm of dermatology. The input queries into ChatGPT included “What can I eat to improve my acne? What foods should I avoid?” “What can I eat to improve my Rosacea?” “What can I eat to improve my Psoriasis?” “What can I eat to improve my hidradenitis suppurativa?” “What foods and supplements should I take to improve hair loss?” “What can I eat to improve my eczema?” “What can I eat to improve my seborrheic dermatitis?” “What can I eat to improve my sun protection?” and “What can I eat to prevent skin aging and improve collagen? What supplements should I take to improve this?” The verbatim responses from ChatGPT were included in the survey (Supplementary material).

The survey asked patients to rate how easy to understand each response was on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the easiest to understand). Integrative practitioners who completed the survey rated the accuracy of the information from 1-10 (ten being the most accurate).

A total of five practitioners of integrative dermatology graded the accuracy of the information presented by ChatGPT, including four dermatologists and one physician assistant. The average accuracy of the AI answers was 7.0. Questions 4-7 were rated the least accurate with scores below seven (Figure 1). There was a notable degree of variation between accuracy scores per grader, with a standard deviation of 1.9 (average scores per grader: 4.3, 6.2, 8.6, 6.9, 8.2). A total of four patients assessed the ease of understanding of each AI generated response. The average ease of understanding across all questions was 9.7 (Figure 2).

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

In this study, we assessed the accuracy and ease-of-understanding of ChatGPT 3.5 in its responses to questions about integrative interventions in dermatology. The AI model was evaluated by practitioners for accuracy and by patients for ease of understanding. The results provide valuable insights into the potential and limitations of AI in healthcare, particularly in topics supported by recently published literature. Each response generated by ChatGPT advised the patient to consult a dermatologist or healthcare professional, and an acknowledgement that the response from ChatGPT did not constitute medical expertise or authority.

While the ease of understanding remained consistently high across all nine responses, the accuracy of AI-generated responses varied considerably. Notably, question seven, which asks which dietary choices can improve seborrheic dermatitis, was rated the lowest in accuracy and had the highest variance compared to the other questions. These results are reflected in published literature. A 2018 cross-sectional study determined that a high fruit intake was associated with a lower risk of seborrheic dermatitis, and the more standard Western diet was associated with an increased risk.⁵ By contrast, a 2023 case-control study found that consuming non-acidic fruits or leafy green vegetables at least once daily resulted in a higher percentage of seborrheic dermatitis among subjects.⁶ The study also found that white bread, roasted nuts, and coffee similarly increased the percentage of seborrheic dermatitis in participants. The AI-generated response to question seven generalized that fruits and vegetables may support skin health, however, did not specify its effects on seborrheic dermatitis. ChatGPT also did not provide any references for its conclusions, so its statements cannot be verified. This may pose an issue, particularly due to the tendency of large language models to falsify or invent information.⁷

An example of this tendency is reflected in question five, requesting remedies for hair loss. ChatGPT states that biotin, or vitamin B7, is “commonly associated with hair health,” however the literature suggests that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that biotin has any benefit for healthy individuals with respect to hair. A 2017 review of 18 case reports and RCTs found that in each study, patients receiving the supplements had an existing pathology for poor hair growth. In those instances, biotin supplementation did result in clinical improvement, however no placebo groups or healthy patients were studied.⁸ Another potential issue with the AI responses was their similarities. For example, AI recommended probiotic-rich foods for all five of the dermatological conditions used and did not seem to distinguish between recommended strain within in its responses. Furthermore, ChatGPT’s answers are affected by the user’s previous queries and comments, so another user with different data may have resulted in different answers. Future studies may be needed to examine differences in medical advice given to patients with different conversations preceding the questions.

Our study had several limitations. The questions did not account for variations in the severity of disease or differentiate responses between mild and severe disease. Nevertheless, the questions most likely represent the questions that would be posed by a patient. Furthermore, nothing inherently dangerous or concerning was offered by the AI based responses. This study was focused on the medically related questions that arise in dermatology but not on the cosmetic related questions. Future studies should explore how AI may respond to cosmetically related questions. The sample size of patients and practitioners was limited. Our results justify further studies in an expanded set of both patients and practitioners.

The results of this study demonstrate the growing potential that AI has in guiding patients’ lifestyle choices, but it also shows its limitations and potential for improvement. While ChatGPT can provide general advice and encourage consultation with healthcare professionals, its recommendations often lack specificity and citations, increasing the probability of providing misinformation. Future research should explore the impact of conversational context on AI responses and develop strategies to improve the reliability and validity of AI-generated health information.

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