Artificial Intelligence in Community Healthcare: A Pre-Post Study on Knowledge Improvement and Adoption Barriers

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is swiftly revolutionizing healthcare systems globally by improving diagnostic precision, optimizing workflows, and aiding public health management. Nevertheless, its incorporation into community health centres (CHCs), particularly in resource-constrained environments, is still inadequately explored. This study sought to evaluate the pre- and post-intervention knowledge of AI among healthcare providers at CHCs, assess the effectiveness of a structured educational program, and identify the relationship between knowledge enhancement and facilitating factors such as financial backing and digital infrastructure. A preexperimental, one-group pre-test post-test design was utilized with 100 healthcare providers purposefully selected from various CHCs. Data was collected using a demographic proforma and a 24-item self-structured questionnaire that measured AI knowledge and application. The intervention included lectures, tool demonstrations, group discussions, and resource handouts and was conducted as a one-day training session labelled “AI in Community Health: Awareness and Capacity-Building”. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and chi-squared tests. The intervention, was beneficial as the mean pre-test score statistically significantly increased from <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$4.26 (\pm 1.51)$</tex> to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$7.68 (\pm 1.27)$</tex> after the intervention (<tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{p}&lt;0.001$</tex>). Post-intervention knowledge levels were also statistically significantly associated with the indicator financial help, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{p}=\mathbf{0. 0 0 2}$</tex>, and computer access, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{p}&lt;\mathbf{0. 0 0 1}$</tex>. It is noteworthy, that these results highlight the importance of institutional and infrastructure readiness for ensuring the successful integration of AI technology.

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