Genital herpes management in pregnancy: Knowledge and practices of healthcare providers.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the knowledge and practices of Israeli healthcare providers in managing genital herpes and evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs) in addressing key clinical questions.

Study design: An anonymous survey comprising 24 questions assessing genital herpes management and guideline familiarity was distributed to healthcare providers (obstetricians and gynecologists (OB-GYNs), dermatologists, infectious disease specialists, and family doctors). Further, four LLM tools were tested on the main questions.

Results: Overall, 122 physicians participated, with OB-GYNs showing the highest familiarity with guidelines; however, only 22.9% of respondents were fully familiar with local guidelines. Significant knowledge gaps in transmission risks and preventive treatments were identified. LLM tools demonstrated strong performance, often surpassing physicians in accuracy, but exhibited limitations in interpreting certain guideline aspects.

Conclusions: Israeli healthcare providers show critical knowledge gaps, underscoring the need for enhanced education and guidelines. Further, LLMs show promise as supplementary tools for improving guideline adherence.