Guideline-informed AI chat access and perceived mental effort in a simulated home-visit nursing task: a randomized controlled trial

出版情報

所属

Nana-r Home-visit Nursing Development Center, Tekix Corporation
Department of Perioperative and Critical Care Management, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University
Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka
Faculty of Nursing, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University

Journal

BMC Nursing

Year / Volume / Issue / Pages

2026

DOI

10.1186/s12912-026-05418-w

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出版社ページを開く

リポジトリ掲載ファイル

Manuscript type

Published Version

リポジトリ公開日

2026-10-08

ライセンス

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

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抄録

Background Home-visit nurses often make autonomous clinical judgments in patients’ homes, where access to colleagues and evidence-based resources is limited. Guideline-informed artificial intelligence (AI) systems may facilitate access to clinical information, but evidence of their effects on nurses’ perceived mental effort remains limited. This study examined whether access to a guideline-informed AI chat system was associated with perceived mental effort, task difficulty, and confidence in answer correctness during a simulated home-visit nursing task. Methods This web-based randomized controlled trial was conducted in Japan from March 9 to March 27, 2026. Home-visit nurses were randomly allocated 1:1 to AI or non-AI groups. Both groups completed a simulated task involving an older adult with chronic heart failure living alone. The AI group could use a NotebookLM system preloaded with publicly available clinical guidelines, whereas the comparison group was instructed not to use external resources. The primary outcome was perceived mental effort, assessed using a 9-point single-item rating based on Paas’ scale. The exploratory secondary outcomes were perceived task difficulty and confidence in answer correctness. The primary analyses used a complete-case approach and included participants who completed the task and provided post-task outcome data. Outcomes were analyzed using analysis of covariance adjusted for home-visit nursing experience, non-home-visit nursing experience, and educational attainment. Results Of 140 randomized participants, 105 completed the task and were included in the complete-case analysis: 53 in the non-AI group and 52 in the AI group. Compared with the non-AI group, the AI group reported lower perceived mental effort (adjusted mean difference − 1.13, 95% CI -1.81 to -0.45), lower perceived task difficulty (-0.74, 95% CI -1.37 to -0.12), and higher confidence in answer correctness (0.71, 95% CI 0.14 to 1.27). Conclusions Among participants who completed the task, guideline-informed AI chat access was associated with lower perceived mental effort and task difficulty and higher confidence in answer correctness than no access to external resources. These are complete-case, not intention-to-treat estimates; the study neither isolated the independent effect of AI nor evaluated clinical reasoning quality, accuracy, or safety. Trial registration UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000061415. Retrospectively registered on 30 April 2026.

キーワード

Artificial intelligence · Home-visit nursing · Clinical reasoning · Evidence-informed practice · Cognitive load · Mental effort · Nursing practice · Randomized controlled trial