Laypeople's use of and attitudes toward large language models and search engines for health queries: survey study

Authors: T Mendel, N Singh, DM Mann, B Wiesenfeld

Published: 2025

Publication: Journal of medical ..., 2025 - jmir.org

Laypeople primarily use search engines over large language models (LLMs) for health queries, perceiving LLMs as less useful but less biased and more human-like while exhibiting no significant difference in trust or ease of use.

Methods: A screening survey followed by logistic regression analysis and a follow-up survey; comparisons were performed using ANOVA, Tukey post hoc tests, and paired-sample Wilcoxon tests.

Key Findings: Demographics and behaviors of LLM and search engine users for health queries, perceived usefulness, ease of use, trustworthiness, bias, and anthropomorphism.

Limitations: Potential biases due to self-reported data and over-representation of certain demographics in the sample.

Institution: The City University of New York, George Washington University, New York University

Research Area: LLMs in Digital Health, Health Queries, User Attitudes

Discipline: Digital Health

Sample Size: 2002 participants

Citations: 21