Spine · 1989 · 14 citations · 0 references
MedicineBiomedical InformaticsHealth InformaticsClinical InformaticsClinical Information SystemsPain MedicineDiagnostic Error DetectionDiagnostic InterviewingPain AssessmentPatient AssessmentSpinal AssessmentSyndrome RecognitionClinical Error ReductionClinical Question Answering SystemsClinical Test AccuracyComputer-assisted Clinical InterviewingInterview ElicitationPain Documentation AccuracyRandomized Crossover DesignsRandomized Crossover Trials
A microcomputer-based system has been designed to interview patients with a view to investigating and establishing common syndromes of back and leg pain. In a randomized crossover validation study, 50 consecutive outpatients were interviewed by the computer and had a conventional clerking by a doctor. The conventional clerking made minor errors in 3.75% of questions answered and major errors in 0.90%. The computer made minor errors in 6.75% of questions and major errors in 5.45%. The majority of the computer errors were due to inadequate question design. These have been corrected, and it is anticipated that the computer will now have an overall rate of 94% correct answers and be sufficiently accurate to pursue the aim of clinical syndrome identification.