{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T08:30:17Z","timestamp":1770280217447,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770163200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Technology-enhanced education is an essential element of modern universities, improving clinical decision-making, and student performance. This study aimed to design and evaluate an augmented reality-based virtual patient (VPAR) educational model to enhance clinical decision-making in upper limb nerves among occupational therapy students. This quasi-experimental study conducted from January to April 2025 with 44 occupational therapy students from Shiraz and Arak Universities of Medical Sciences. Classes were assigned by pre-existing cluster allocation to the intervention group (VPAR, n\u2009=\u200924) or the control group (traditional education, n\u2009=\u200920). Clinical decision-making skills were assessed before and one month after a three-week VPAR program using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using R software (version 4.3.3) and the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model to determine the effect of the intervention. The post-test probability of a correct response was 7.34 times greater than the pre-test (p\u2009=\u20090.0684), indicating improved performance likely due to the intervention (p\u2009=\u20090.0018). Additionally, the intervention group had a 3.75 times higher likelihood of correct responses compared to the control group (p\u2009=\u20090.0004), demonstrating the intervention\u2019s positive impact. In conclusion, the VPAR is an effective tool for enhancing clinical decision-making among occupational therapy students.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0340759","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T18:30:15Z","timestamp":1770229815000},"page":"e0340759","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Investigating the effect of augmented reality-based virtual patient training on occupational therapy students\u2019 clinical decision-making: A quasi-experimental study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Farshid","family":"Chahartangi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1297-8271","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nahid","family":"Zarifsanaiey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manoosh","family":"Mehrabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bahareh Zeynalzadeh","family":"Ghoochani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5307-3877","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nahid","family":"Sharifzadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0340759.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"697","DOI":"10.1186\/s12912-024-02356-3","article-title":"Impact of blended teaching on academic achievement and well-being in operating room students: a semi-experimental study","volume":"23","author":"S Gheysari","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Nurs"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0340759.ref002","article-title":"Teaching Strategies in psychiatric nursing based on bloom\u2019s taxonomy of educational objectives","volume":"16","author":"Z Jia","year":"2024","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0340759.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1374","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsurg.2018.01.013","article-title":"Simulation-based learning strategies to teach undergraduate students basic surgical skills: a systematic review","volume":"75","author":"I Theodoulou","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Surg Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0340759.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1023","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-024-05991-1","article-title":"Investigating the impact of virtual simulation experiment and massive open online course (MOOC) on medical students\u2019 wound debridement training: a quasi-experimental study","volume":"24","author":"W Zhang","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"key":"pone.0340759.ref005","volume-title":"Simulation in nursing education: From conceptualization to evaluation","author":"P Jeffries","year":"2020"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0340759.ref006","first-page":"96","article-title":"A framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating simulations used as teaching strategies in nursing","volume":"26","author":"PR Jeffries","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nurs Educ Perspect"},{"key":"pone.0340759.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-015-0296-3","article-title":"Virtual patients--what are we talking about? 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