{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T18:08:09Z","timestamp":1790273289706,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":95,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosdigitalhealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Digit Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The rapid expansion of social media and the availability of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies like ChatGPT and Gemini have significantly increased access to personalized health information. This has led to a rise in self-directed health behaviors such as self-diagnosis and self-medication. While GenAI can support informed self-care decisions, over-reliance on these technologies may result in incorrect self-medication and delayed consultations with medical professionals if not managed appropriately. However, there is a notable lack of systematic empirical data regarding GenAI-assisted medical self-care practices, particularly in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of GenAI-assisted medical self-care and its influencing factors among undergraduate students at Arsi University in South-Eastern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 414 randomly selected students using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected through Kobo Toolbox, and descriptive analyses alongside binary logistic regression were performed to identify factors associated with GenAI-assisted self-care. The study achieved a response rate of 97.87%, with participants having a mean age of 22.2 years. Results showed that 70.05% of students engaged in GenAI-assisted medical self-care. Factors positively associated with this behavior included being a second-year student (AOR=2.98), possessing good digital health literacy (AOR=1.71), awareness of GenAI technologies (AOR=2.18), a positive attitude towards these technologies (AOR=1.63), and recent health facility visits (AOR=2.46). Conversely, good health-seeking behavior (AOR=0.61) and infrequent health facility visits (AOR=0.49) were linked to lower odds of engaging in GenAI-assisted self-care. The findings suggest a high prevalence of GenAI-assisted self-care among university students and highlight the need for guidelines and training on digital health literacy for effective and safe technology use in healthcare.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pdig.0001748","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T17:31:22Z","timestamp":1790271082000},"page":"e0001748","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pdig.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Generative artificial intelligence\u2013assisted medical self-care and associated factors among undergraduate students at Arsi University, South-Eastern Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1026-0626","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jibril Bashir","family":"Adem","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Health Science, Arsi University","place":["Asella, Ethiopia"],"department":["Department of Public Health"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anas Ali","family":"Alhur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University","place":["Dammam, Saudi Arabia"],"department":["Department of Health Information Management and Technology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"pdig.0001748.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.4066\/AMJ.2012.1007","article-title":"Self-medication patterns among medical students in South India","volume":"5","author":"S Badiger","year":"2012","journal-title":"Australas Med J"},{"issue":"1","key":"pdig.0001748.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/12.1.19","article-title":"Health seeking behaviour and the control of sexually transmitted disease","volume":"12","author":"H Ward","year":"1997","journal-title":"Health Policy Plan"},{"issue":"2","key":"pdig.0001748.ref003","first-page":"90","article-title":"Health seeking behavior of physicians at the Jos university teaching hospital","volume":"52","author":"P Agaba","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nigerian Medical J"},{"key":"pdig.0001748.ref004","first-page":"103776","article-title":"Health seeking behavior and self-medication practice among undergraduate medical students of a teaching hospital: a cross-sectional study","volume":"78","author":"S Khadka","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ann Med Surg (Lond)"},{"issue":"2","key":"pdig.0001748.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtcme.2016.05.006","article-title":"Revival, modernization and integration of Indian traditional herbal medicine in clinical practice: importance, challenges and future","volume":"7","author":"S Sen","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Tradit Complement Med"},{"key":"pdig.0001748.ref006","volume-title":"Where are the patients in decision-making about their own care","author":"A Coulter","year":"2008"},{"key":"pdig.0001748.ref007","first-page":"100257","article-title":"Self-care and self-medication as central components of healthcare in Germany - on the way to evidence-based pharmacy","volume":"9","author":"T Bertsche","year":"2023","journal-title":"Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm"},{"issue":"5","key":"pdig.0001748.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1002\/pds.711","article-title":"Self-medication in a Portuguese urban population: a prevalence study","volume":"11","author":"AP Martins","year":"2002","journal-title":"Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf"},{"issue":"2","key":"pdig.0001748.ref009","first-page":"32","article-title":"Exploring health seeking behavior, medicine use and self medication in urban and rural Pakistan","volume":"3","author":"S Hussain","year":"2010","journal-title":"Southern Med Rev"},{"issue":"4","key":"pdig.0001748.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.4066\/AMJ.2012.1007","article-title":"Self-medication patterns among medical students in South India","volume":"5","author":"S Badiger","year":"2012","journal-title":"Australas Med J"},{"issue":"1","key":"pdig.0001748.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1007608702063","article-title":"Sociodemographic factors related to self-medication in Spain","volume":"16","author":"A Figueiras","year":"2000","journal-title":"Eur J Epidemiol"},{"key":"pdig.0001748.ref012","unstructured":"Sobel D. 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