The Survey of Awareness in Students Majoring in Rehabilitation Therapy Regarding AI-based Rehabilitation Services

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate awareness of AI-based rehabilitation services among future rehabilitative professionals, specifically university students majoring in rehabilitative therapy.It also sought to provide a rationale for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) education into the rehabilitative therapy curriculum to develop professionals who can drive AI technology in clinical practice. Methods:The study included 179 students from universities located in the Chungcheong and Honam regions.The survey questionnaire consisted of 47 items: 4 items on the common characteristics of the participants, 18 items on the general aspects of AI-based rehabilitation services, and 25 items on the Intelligent Rehabilitation Service Awareness Scale (IRSRS).Results: Students with higher awareness showed significantly greater recognition of the value of intelligent rehabilitation services (IRS) than those with moderate and low awareness (p < 0.05).However, no significant difference was found in the ability to distinguish IRS types between the group that perceived them as important and the group that did not (p > 0.05).The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the IRSRS ranged from 0.608 to 0.667.The respondents demonstrated an IRSRS mean score of 16.39, falling short of the cut-off score of 19.Analysis of the IRSRS subdomains indicated that, although education (3.63 points) and efficiency (3.69 points) were elevated, experience (1.31 points), understanding (2.12 points), application (3.16 points), and effectiveness (2.48 point) remained low. Conclusion:Students in the field of rehabilitation therapy need a solid understanding of machine-learning-based services to firmly establish the role of rehabilitation professionals in clinical settings.