Table_1_Assessing the knowledge, attitude and perception of Extended Reality (XR) technology in Pakistan’s Healthcare community in an era of Artificial Intelligence.docx

Background and objectivesThe Extended Reality (XR) technology was established by combining elements of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, offering users the advantage of working in a virtual environment. The study aimed to evaluate medical professionals’ and students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding using XR technology in Pakistan’s healthcare system and identify its benefits, drawbacks, and implications for the system’s future.MethodologyA cross-sectional study was executed by circulating a self-structured online questionnaire among the Medical Community across Major Cities of Pakistan using various social media platforms as available sampling. The sample size was calculated to be 385 using RAOSOFT. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated as 0.74. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) conducted on the dataset was validated using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity. The KMO value of 0.752 indicates adequate sampling, and Bartlett’s Test was significant (χ2 (435) = 2809.772, p < 0.001), confirming the suitability of the data for factor analysis. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-25, and data description was done as frequency and percentage. Pearson correlation and regression analysis kept p-value < 0.05% significant.ResultsApproximately 54.8% of 406 participants conveyed their familiarity with XR technologies. The majority of participants (83.8%) believed that using XR technology effectively enhanced medical education and patient care in Pakistan. Regarding clinical outcomes, 70.8% believed XR improved the efficiency of procedures and 52.8% agreed XR would lead to more device-dependent systems and eradicating human error (32.4%). Major barriers to XR integration included ethical and privacy issues (63.9%), lack of technological advancements in Pakistan (70%), and lack of ample knowledge and training of XR among health care professionals (45.8%). Hypothesis testing revealed a low positive but significant correlation between the use of AI-based healthcare systems and the increasing speed and accuracy of procedures (r = 0.342, p < 0.001), supporting Hypothesis 1. Similarly, a very low positive yet significant correlation was observed between the augmentation of diagnostic and surgical procedures and addressing data security and ethical issues for implementing XR (r = 0.298, p < 0.001), supporting Hypothesis 2. Lastly, a correlation between the mean Attitude (MA) score and the mean Perception (MP) score was found to be moderately positive and significant (r = 0.356, p < 0.001). Hence, the hypothesis 3 was supported.ConclusionXR technology has the potential to enhance medical education and patient care in Pakistan, but its adoption faces significant challenges, including ethical concerns, technological gaps, and inadequate training. The study’s findings highlight the need to address these issues to maximize the benefits of XR in healthcare.

背景与目标
扩展现实（XR）技术通过融合虚拟现实与增强现实之要素而建立，为用户提供在虚拟环境中工作的优势。本研究旨在评估巴基斯坦医疗体系中的医疗专业人员和学生在使用XR技术方面的知识、态度和实践，并识别其益处、弊端及其对未来体系的影响。
研究方法
通过在巴基斯坦主要城市医疗界中传播自构在线问卷，采用各种社交媒体平台进行抽样，执行了一项横断面研究。样本量经RAOSOFT计算得出为385。Cronbach’s alpha系数为0.74。对数据集进行的探索性因子分析（EFA）通过Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin（KMO）测量和Bartlett球形度检验进行了验证。KMO值为0.752，表明抽样充足；Bartlett球形度检验显著（χ2（435）= 2809.772，p < 0.001），确认数据适合进行因子分析。统计分析使用SPSS-25进行，数据描述以频率和百分比呈现。Pearson相关分析和回归分析中，p值小于0.05%被认为具有统计学意义。
结果
大约54.8%的406名参与者表示他们熟悉XR技术。大多数参与者（83.8%）认为使用XR技术在巴基斯坦有效地提升了医学教育和患者护理。在临床结果方面，70.8%的人认为XR提高了手术程序的效率，52.8%的人同意XR将导致更依赖设备的系统并消除人为错误（32.4%）。XR整合的主要障碍包括伦理和隐私问题（63.9%）、巴基斯坦技术进步的缺乏（70%）以及医疗保健专业人员对XR知识和培训的不足（45.8%）。假设检验显示，基于AI的医疗系统使用与手术程序速度和准确性的提高之间存在低度正相关但显著的关联（r = 0.342，p < 0.001），支持假设1。同样，观察到诊断和手术程序增强与解决实施XR的数据安全和伦理问题之间存在非常低度正相关但显著的关联（r = 0.298，p < 0.001），支持假设2。最后，发现平均态度（MA）分数与平均感知（MP）分数之间存在中度正相关且显著的关联（r = 0.356，p < 0.001）。因此，假设3得到了支持。
结论
XR技术在提升巴基斯坦的医学教育和患者护理方面具有潜力，但其采纳面临重大挑战，包括伦理关切、技术差距和培训不足。本研究的结果强调了解决这些问题以最大化XR在医疗保健中的益处的必要性。