AI chatbots versus human healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of empathy in patient care.

Howcroft A, Bennett-Weston A, Khan A, Griffiths J, Gay S, Howick J

DOI: 10.1093/bmb/ldaf017
Published: 2025 Sep 22
Container: British medical bulletin
Publisher: Not recorded
Open access: yes

Credibility signals

limited evidence Score 45/100 under policy 1.0.0. This is a metadata assessment, not a judgment of the paper's conclusions.

Show all credibility signals

cautionDOI registered: No matching Crossref record was present in this response. Source: Crossref; license: CC0 metadata
cautionDOI resolves: No matching Crossref record was present in this response. Source: Crossref; license: CC0 metadata
not scoredDirectory of Open Access Journals: No matching DOAJ record was present in this response. No allow-list match; this is not evidence of low credibility. Source: DOAJ; license: CC0
not scoredMEDLINE indexed: Not checked or no result supplied; no credibility inference made. Source: No authority result supplied; license: Unknown
not scoredOpenAlex core source: Not checked or no result supplied; no credibility inference made. Source: No authority result supplied; license: Unknown
not scoredKnown publisher allow-list: Not checked or no result supplied; no credibility inference made. Source: No authority result supplied; license: Unknown
not scoredROR affiliation: Not checked or no result supplied; no credibility inference made. Source: No authority result supplied; license: Unknown
not scoredRetraction Watch retraction: No retraction notice matched this DOI in the deployed snapshot. No matching event found; coverage may be incomplete. Source: Retraction Watch; license: CC BY 4.0
not scoredRetraction Watch expression of concern: No expression of concern notice matched this DOI in the deployed snapshot. No matching event found; coverage may be incomplete. Source: Retraction Watch; license: CC BY 4.0
not scoredRetraction Watch correction: No correction notice matched this DOI in the deployed snapshot. No matching event found; coverage may be incomplete. Source: Retraction Watch; license: CC BY 4.0
not scoredRetraction Watch reinstatement: No reinstatement notice matched this DOI in the deployed snapshot. No matching event found; coverage may be incomplete. Source: Retraction Watch; license: CC BY 4.0
supportingOpen access status: Normalized open-access status: open. Source: Normalized work metadata; license: Caller-provided; provenance license not supplied to scorer
not scoredPublication license: Not checked or no result supplied; no credibility inference made. Source: No authority result supplied; license: Unknown
not scoredPublication version: A publication version was supplied but is not scored. Source: Normalized work metadata; license: Caller-provided; provenance license not supplied to scorer
cautionMetadata completeness: 5 of 6 scored descriptive metadata groups are present; missing fields increase uncertainty. Source: Normalized work metadata; license: Caller-provided; provenance license not supplied to scorer

Cite this work

BibTeX

@article{allodium:10.1093/bmb/ldaf017,
  title = {AI chatbots versus human healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of empathy in patient care.},
  author = {Howcroft A and Bennett-Weston A and Khan A and Griffiths J and Gay S and Howick J},
  year = {2025},
  journal = {British medical bulletin},
  doi = {10.1093/bmb/ldaf017},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldaf017}
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - AI chatbots versus human healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of empathy in patient care.
AU  - Howcroft A
AU  - Bennett-Weston A
AU  - Khan A
AU  - Griffiths J
AU  - Gay S
AU  - Howick J
PY  - 2025
JO  - British medical bulletin
DO  - 10.1093/bmb/ldaf017
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldaf017
ER  -

APA

A, H., A, B., A, K., J, G., S, G., & J, H. (2025). AI chatbots versus human healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of empathy in patient care.. British medical bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldaf017

Source records

pubmed · retrieved 2026-09-25T01:42:43.677Z