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Disclaimers and Referral Patterns for Medical Advice Across Urgency Levels: Large Language Model Evaluation Study

Background: “I’m not a doctor, but...” is a typical response when asking considerate laypeople for health advice. However, seeking medical advice has also shifted to digital settings, where the expertise of the other party is less transparent than in face-to-face interactions. Recently, large language models (LLMs) have emerged as easily accessible tools, offering a novel way to formulate medical questions and receive seemingly qualified advice. Given the sensitive nature of health-related queries and the lack of professional supervision, incorrect advice can pose serious health risks. Therefore, including explicit disclaimers and precise referrals in LLM responses to medical queries is crucial. However, little is known about how LLMs adapt their safety implementations in response to different urgency levels. Objective: This study evaluates disclaimer and referral patterns in responses from LLMs to authentic medical queries of different urgency levels using a systematic evaluation framework. Methods: This prospective, multimodel evaluation study generated and analyzed 908 responses from 4 popular LLMs (GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet-4, Grok-3, and DeepSeek-V3) to 227 authentic patient queries from a public dataset. Two human raters classified all 227 patient queries using a 3-level urgency scale. LLM responses were evaluated using a 5-point ordinal classification system for disclaimer and referral advice, ranging from “no disclaimer” to “urgent advice to consult a medical professional.” GPT-4o served as the primary rater model for this task after conducting a subset validation against human expert annotations. Statistical analyses included Jonckheere-Terpstra tests to examine the relationship between case urgency and disclaimer ratings and Kruskal-Wallis tests for intermodel comparisons. Results: The 227 patient queries were distributed as 77 (34%) low-urgency, 110 (48%) intermediate-urgency, and 40 (18%) high-urgency cases. All 4 LLMs demonstrated statistically significant ordered trends (all

Insulin resistance prediction from wearables and routine blood biomarkers

Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10179-2

A machine-learning model that integrates data from wearable devices (such as smartwatches) with blood biomarkers and demographic data can predict whether someone has insulin resistance, enabling timely lifestyle interventions to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.

First-line zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 and nivolumab in unresectable CLDN18.2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: a phase 2 trial

Nature Medicine, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04306-9

In cohort 4 of the ILUSTRO trial, combination of anti-CLDN18.2 zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 and nivolumab in patients with CLDN18.2-positive, HER2-negative metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma led to encouraging clinical efficacy, supporting the testing of this combination in a phase 3 trial.

LINC-AC092535.5 regulates MICAL2 mRNA level to inhibit p53-mediated ferroptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Oncogene, Published online: 14 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41388-026-03714-y

LINC-AC092535.5 regulates MICAL2 mRNA level to inhibit p53-mediated ferroptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

SOX4 induces cisplatin resistance in cervical cancer cells by inhibiting aerobic glycolysis

Cell Death Discovery, Published online: 14 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41420-026-02954-x

SOX4 induces cisplatin resistance in cervical cancer cells by inhibiting aerobic glycolysis

Effect of a Digital-Driven Physician-Pharmacist Collaborative Model for Diabetes in Primary Health Care: Cluster Randomized Trial

Background: Evidence-based physician-pharmacist collaborative clinics have demonstrated significant short-term benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), but their long-term effectiveness remains unclear, especially in primary health care settings. Objective: This study aimed to explore the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a novel, digital-driven, multifaceted physician-pharmacist collaborative model for managing patients with T2D in underresourced settings. Methods: We conducted a 12-month cluster randomized controlled trial from May 2021 to December 2022 across 6 primary health care settings in China. Guided by the theory of planned behavior, the intervention involved routine therapy from physicians along with pharmaceutical interventions from pharmacists. These were delivered through a combination of face-to-face visits and mobile health care. The intervention group received 4 face-to-face visits and biweekly remote education sessions over the 12 months. We conducted intention-to-treat analyses to estimate differences in clinical and behavior indicators between the intervention and control groups. Primary outcomes included glycosylated hemoglobin and 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk. Data were analyzed using adjusted generalized estimation equations. Results: This study included 574 patients (291 in the intervention group and 283 in the control group). Over 12 months, patients in the intervention group had significant reductions in hemoglobin A1c (–2.57 vs –1.96, respectively; P<.001; 95% CI –1.027 to –0.238) and 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk (–1.35 vs 0.01, respectively; P<.001; 95% CI –1.690 to –0.630) compared with the control group. Substantial improvements were also observed in several secondary outcomes, including fasting blood glucose, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, triglyceride, and total cholesterol. Total diabetes-related costs decreased, and patient satisfaction improved significantly in the intervention group. There were no significant differences in BMI, high-density lipoprotein, or low-density lipoprotein. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the physician-pharmacist collaborative model could improve the long-term quality and efficiency of T2D management and reduce medical costs in underresourced areas globally. Patients with T2D, especially those with central obesity or high cardiovascular risk, may benefit more from collaborative clinics. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000031839; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=51910
  • ✇Nature Cancer
  • A functional map of m<sup>6</sup>A sites in cancer Yalong Wang · Han Xu
    Nature Cancer, Published online: 13 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01137-yRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal RNA modification, yet its functional landscape in cancer remains poorly defined. A study now introduces a METTL3-based RNA base-editing screen that maps functional m6A sites and reveals m6A-dependent translational activation of the tumor suppressor CHD9 in prostate cancer and beyond.
     

A functional map of m<sup>6</sup>A sites in cancer

13 March 2026 at 08:00

Nature Cancer, Published online: 13 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01137-y

RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal RNA modification, yet its functional landscape in cancer remains poorly defined. A study now introduces a METTL3-based RNA base-editing screen that maps functional m6A sites and reveals m6A-dependent translational activation of the tumor suppressor CHD9 in prostate cancer and beyond.

Insights and Recommendations From Moderators and Community Members for Keeping Online Peer Support Safe: Thematic Analysis

Background: Online peer support can help people living with long-term physical health conditions to manage their mental well-being. Although the potential negative events that can occur and risks associated with web-based peer communities are well recognized, our understanding of how best to moderate these spaces is relatively limited, particularly with regard to new communities. Previous work has focused on the experiences of either moderators or community members. Objective: This study aims to explore the perspectives of both members and moderators of a new online peer support community to evaluate the moderation procedures and inform recommendations for best practice. Methods: Community members (n=39) who participated in a research trial of a new online peer community, CommonGround, were interviewed. The moderation team (n=5) was invited to a focus group. Community member interviews explored their opinions of moderation policies and the behavior of the moderation team. The moderator focus group explored their experiences of moderating the community, including perceived benefits, common challenges, and areas for improvement. All interviews and the focus group were conducted online, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to sort the data into overarching themes through an iterative process. Results: Effective moderation was considered critical in creating a safe space that members wanted to engage with and for mitigating any risks, particularly around the spread of medical misinformation. Both moderators and community members felt that the moderation policies and practices were appropriate and applicable to the community. Moderators found navigating the moderation threshold, where they balanced safety against free speech, challenging when determining whether to intervene or not. Being part of a team with mixed clinical expertise helped moderators build confidence in navigating this threshold and also presented other benefits of easy access to support and improving the consistency of their moderation practices. It was suggested that in order for a community to flourish, community members would self-moderate. However, moderators and members felt that the strong community culture and high levels of member engagement that are needed to support self-moderation had not yet evolved. Proposed improvements to moderation included new features to support the efficiency of identifying new content for review and reviewing the rule of anonymity. Conclusions: Moderation is critical in making online peer communities feel safe and engaging. Moderation practices should be co-produced with the target audience to ensure that they are aligned with the community’s unique moderation wants and needs, including clear escalation pathways, transparent communication patterns, and plans to review and update policies or procedures as the community evolves. There should be technological features that promote self-moderation, as the community may shift towards self-moderation as it matures. It is also critical to ensure that moderators feel supported so that they are best placed to support the broader community. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06222346; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06222346

Integrating a Large Language Model to Streamline Nursing Handover Documentation Across Multiple Hospitals in Taiwan: Development and Implementation Study

Background: The global nursing shortage, exacerbated by heavy workloads and high turnover rates associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to undermine care quality and nurse well-being. Although digital health technologies have enhanced coordination, improved communication, and reduced clinical errors in nursing practice, they have also increased nurses’ documentation burden. Advances in large language models (LLMs) and other generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools facilitate the generation of accurate reports from electronic medical records (EMRs), thereby streamlining documentation workflows, saving time, and reducing nurses’ workloads. Accordingly, integrating LLMs into electronic nursing documentation systems warrants further exploration. Objective: This study examines the integration of an LLM into an in-house nursing information system (NIS) implemented across 3 hospitals in Taiwan to reduce the time and effort required for nursing handover documentation and to preliminarily assess the operational and economic implications of GenAI-assisted workflows. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of nursing specialists and information technology experts at Taipei Medical University (TMU) restructured the organization’s existing nursing handover documentation process to facilitate interaction with the LLM. The team also developed prompt-based interfaces to automatically generate section-specific content for the nursing handover document. The LLM-integrated NIS was subsequently deployed across 3 hospitals in Taiwan: Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH), Wan Fang Hospital (WFH), and Shuang Ho Hospital (SHH). We then extracted and analyzed NIS log data to compare documentation times before and after LLM implementation, thereby quantifying time savings. Results: Integration of the LLM into nursing handover documentation was associated with shorter per-patient documentation time in routine clinical use across TMUH, WFH, and SHH. Based on preintegration NIS logs (September 2024), the average handover document completion time per patient ranged from 3.45 (SD 3.82) to 4.32 (SD 4.48) minutes across hospitals and shifts, providing a preliminary baseline for subsequent comparisons. In postintegration NIS logs (October-December 2024), the overall handover document completion time per patient (mean) was substantially lower, ranging from 1.17 (SD 1.86) to 2.54 (SD 2.82) minutes across hospitals and shifts. Using monthly patient volume to estimate time savings, 113-273, 160-314, and 198-391 hours were saved per month at TMUH, WFH, and SHH, respectively, corresponding to aggregate savings of 474-981 hours per month across hospitals during the study period. Conclusions: We integrated an LLM into an NIS to generate nursing handover documents without altering existing workflows. Across 3 hospitals within TMU’s health system, GenAI assistance was associated with shorter documentation time and a positive net labor value from October to December 2024. Prompts were constrained, and nurse verification was required to mitigate hallucinations. Future work will enhance logging to capture reliability and editing metrics, compare LLM-generated drafts with nurse-finalized notes to inform prompt refinement, and assess generalizability to other documentation workflows.

The Effects of Digital Health Interventions on Motor Symptoms, Nonmotor Symptoms, and Quality of Life in Patients With Parkinson Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with increasing global prevalence, necessitating innovative management. Digital health interventions (DHIs) offer potential advantages for PD care; yet, a comprehensive systematic review and synthesis across all DHI types and core outcomes is still lacking. Objective: This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of DHIs for improving motor symptoms, nonmotor symptoms, and quality of life in patients with PD and to summarize the reach, uptake, and feasibility. Methods: We searched PubMed, Ovid Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and APA PsycINFO up to November 2025. Pooled standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated using random-effects models. We calculated 95% prediction intervals (PIs) to estimate the true effects. The revised Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool was used to assess risk of bias. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2, τ2, and 95% PI. Subgroup analyses, meta-regression, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to address heterogeneity and potential bias. The quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). Results: The review included 112 randomized controlled trials involving 5594 participants. Significant postintervention improvements were identified in motor symptoms (SMD=–0.39, 95% CI –0.60 to –0.18, 95% PI –1.75 to 0.99; I2=80.3%) and overall nonmotor symptoms (SMD=–0.26, 95% CI –0.49 to –0.03, 95% PI –0.56 to 0.03; I2=13.8%), including cognitive function (SMD=0.47, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.72, 95% PI –0.41 to 1.35; I2=63.5%) and psychiatric symptoms (SMD=–0.42, 95% CI –0.74 to –0.09, 95% PI –1.82 to –0.99; I2=85.4%); however, there was no significant enhancement in quality of life (SMD=–0.19, 95% CI –0.47 to 0.09, 95% PI –1.50 to 1.12; I2=81.2%). The certainty of evidence was very low for quality of life, motor, and psychiatric symptoms and low for cognitive function and overall nonmotor symptoms. Improvements in motor symptoms and cognitive function remained stable at follow-up. Meta-regression analysis indicated that age, percentage of female participants, and supervision mode were possible sources of heterogeneity. Overall, 94 studies reported reach (median 37.5%), 38 reported fidelity (95.7%), and 105 reported dropout rates (9.1%). Conclusions: In contrast to previous reviews focused on single technologies or outcomes, this review provided the first comprehensive synthesis across all DHI types on multiple outcomes and indicated their potential as nonpharmacological interventions for PD management. However, current evidence is of low to very low certainty, and wide 95% PIs, together with high risk of bias and substantial heterogeneity, indicate considerable uncertainty regarding the true effect in future implementations. Therefore, findings should be interpreted with caution. These findings provide integrated evidence to guide the design and prioritization of future research. The results have important real-world implications, supporting cautious implementation while underscoring the need for more robust trials, particularly in resource-limited settings. Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42023492123; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42023492123

Effects of Digital Health Interventions on Functional and Psychological Outcomes in Older Patients With Hip Fractures: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Hip fractures in older adults increasingly challenge public health, making traditional rehabilitation very challenging. Digital health interventions (DHIs) have emerged as a promising solution for postoperative rehabilitation. However, evidence on DHIs’ effects on functional and psychological outcomes remains insufficient. Objective: This systematic review aimed to comprehensively examine the effects of DHIs on functional and psychological outcomes in older adults with hip fractures. Methods: Following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, we searched 9 databases (PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, PEDro, CNKI, WANFANG, and SinoMed) from inception to November 13, 2025. Included studies enrolled adults aged 60 years and older with hip fractures, delivered DHIs, assessed functional and psychological outcomes, set usual care or no intervention as the control, and had a randomized controlled trial design. Studies were excluded if they enrolled nonhospitalized patients in the emergency department, patients discharged to nonhome settings, or had inaccessible full text or insufficient data. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool 2.0 (Cochrane Collaboration), and evidence certainty was assessed using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation). The literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were independently conducted by 2 researchers, and any disputes were resolved by the third researcher. We performed analysis using R version 4.0.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing) with a random-effects model. Results: Of 17,723 studies screened, 13 met the inclusion criteria. DHIs, compared to the control, significantly improved hip function (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.80, 95% CI 0.33-1.26; 95% prediction interval [PI] –0.24 to 1.83; P=.007) and functional independence (SMD 1.23, 95% CI 0.34-2.11; 95% PI –0.98 to 3.34; P=.02). Despite favorable pooled effects, a wide 95% PI spanning positive or negative values signals substantial heterogeneity. No significant difference was observed in balance function, risk of falling, and quality of life. Only a single available study reported a 70% adherence rate in the DHIs group. Subgroup analyses stratified by intervention duration revealed no significant intersubgroup differences for hip function (χ12=0.1; P=.75) or functional independence (χ12=2.93; P=.09). For hip function, the point estimate favored the 3 months subgroup (SMD 0.89, 95% CI 0.36-1.41; I2=7%; P=.41) over the <3 months subgroup. Conversely, for functional independence, the point estimate favored shorter intervention duration (SMD 0.67, 95% CI 0.12-1.23; I²=0%; P=.72). Conclusions: This review incorporates the latest randomized controlled trials and comprehensively assesses functional and psychological outcomes of DHIs in older patients with hip fractures, distinct from prior studies focusing solely on functional outcomes. While the 95% CI supports the potential of DHIs to improve hip function and functional independence, the wide 95% PI indicating substantial real-world response variability, which calls for cautious interpretation, informs the design of targeted DHI-based rehabilitation regimens, warranting further research into optimal techniques and dosages in clinical practice. Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024626186; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024626186
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