Sairan Li, Yaneng Li, Shuya Zhou, Xinge Tao, Changjie Yu, Muzi Shen, Wangyue Chen, En Meng, Boyou Wu, Qirui Huang, Frances S Mair, Jinchao Zhang, Jie Zhou, Lei Zou, Shasha Han
Abstract With a global shortage of primary healthcare physicians—particularly in resource-limited settings—large language models (LLMs) have the potential to support and enhance patients’ health awareness. Here we developed P&P Care (Population Medicine and Public Health), an LLM-powered primary care chatbot using a dual-track role-play codesign framework where community stakeholders and researchers simulated each another’s perspectives across four phases: contextual understanding; cocreation; testing and refinement; and implementation and evolution. The codesigned chatbot was integrated with e-learning modules and tested in a randomized controlled trial. The trial included 2,113 participants (1,052 women and 1,061 men) from urban and rural areas across 11 Chinese provinces who were randomly assigned to receive a consultation either with preparatory e-learning via the P&P Care or without. The study met its primary endpoint with the e-learning group showing significantly higher objective health awareness (mean score 2.95 ± 1.22) compared with the consultation-only group (mean score 2.34 ± 1.02; P < 0.001). Codesign offers a scalable solution for deploying LLMs in resource-limited settings. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry identifier: ChiCTR2500098101 .