Public Perceptions Toward Robotic Surgery, Telesurgery and Telemedicine

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Explicit Surgeon-Control Video: A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds directly describes the surgeon's control of the robotic instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.

Implied Surgeon-Control Video: A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds shows the surgeon operating at a console and robotic instruments performing surgical actions, without explicitly explaining that the surgeon controls the instruments. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.

Robot-Centered Video: A standardized video lasting approximately 10-15 seconds focuses on robotic arms and instruments performing surgical actions. It does not state that the robot independently makes decisions or performs surgery autonomously. The video is presented during a single outpatient study visit.

Study summary

This study aims to systematically assess the public's and clinicians' levels of awareness, attitudes, risk perception, acceptance, and potential concerns regarding robotic surgery and telesurgery. It also analyzes the key factors influencing their attitudes and explores the needs of physicians regarding training systems for robotic and telesurgery, as well as the factors affecting their preparedness. To evaluate how different video representations of the surgeon-robot relationship influence patients' immediate understanding of who controls the surgical instruments during robot-assisted surgery.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Public acceptance of robotic surgery — Baseline
  The level of acceptance toward robotic surgery among the general public, measured using a 5-point Likert scale assessing willingness to receive robotic-assisted procedures under hypothetical clinical scenarios. Higher scores indicate greater acceptance.
• Public acceptance of telesurgery and telemedicine — Baseline
  The degree of acceptance of telesurgery among the general public, assessed via a validated questionnaire evaluating willingness to undergo remote surgery, perceived safety, and perceived reliability of network-based surgical systems.
• Public perceived risk of robotic and telesurgery — Baseline
  Perceived risk associated with robotic surgery and telesurgery, including concerns about device malfunction, network failure, surgical autonomy, and responsibility attribution, assessed using a multi-item Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher perceived risk.
• Physicians' training needs score (assessed by self-designed questionnaire) — Baseline
  This measure assesses physicians' perceived training needs regarding required skills (e.g., simulation, console operation) and preferred modalities (e.g., online courses, wet labs). Participants rate items on a 5-point Likert scale (1=Not needed, 5=Highly needed).
• Percentage of Participants Correctly Identifying Surgeon Control After Video Exposure — Baseline, immediately before video exposure, and immediately after video exposure during the same outpatient study visit.
  The response stating that the surgeon directly controls the surgical instruments through a console will be scored as correct. All other responses will be scored as noncorrect for this outcome. The outcome is the percentage of participants providing the correct response in each randomized group.

Trial sites (1)

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