Abstract
BackgroundThe increasing popularity and availability of tablet computers raises questions regarding clinical scenarios. This pilot study examined the patient’s satisfaction when using a tablet-based digital questionnaire as a tool for obtaining medical history in an emergency department and to what extent gender, age, technical competence and mother tongue influence the user satisfaction. Patients were asked to complete three consecutive questionnaires: The first questionnaire collected basic epidemiological data to measure past digital usage behaviour, the second questionnaire collected the patient’s medical history, and the third questionnaire assessed the overall perceived user satisfaction when using the tablet-based survey application for medical anamnesis.ResultsOf 111 consenting patients, 86 completed all three questionnaires. In summary, the user evaluation was positive with 97.7% (n = 84) of the patients stating that they had no major difficulties using the digital questionnaire. Only 8.1% (n = 7) of patients reported a preference to fill out a paper-and-pen version on the next visit instead, while 98.8% (n = 85) stated that they would feel confident filling out a digital questionnaire on the next visit. The variables gender, age, mother tongue and/or technical competence did not exert a statistically significant influence towards the defined scales usability, content and overall impression.ConclusionIn conclusion, self-administered tablet-based questionnaires are widely accepted tools for collecting medical information in the emergency room across all ages and genders, regardless of technical competence.
Highlights
The assessment of a comprehensive, problem-based medical history is decisive for further goal-oriented diagnostics and has a major influence on the therapy recommendation
Prior studies have identified four main problem areas as critical sources of error in the medical anamnesis [1]: (i) A coherent and concise presentation of the medical history in chronologically correct order is strongly related to the understanding of the patient’s clinical complaints; (ii) face-to-face fear or embarrassment during the patient interview can result in a misleading clinical assessment; (iii) medical terminology and interruptions on the part of the clinician can – due to intimidation or confusion – cause an incomplete description of the problem; (iv) there may be a practitioner bias based on gender, race and/or culture that may result in inappropriate variations in questions and answers and may be an obstacle to obtaining a detailed medical history
Patients with the following characteristics were excluded: aged under 18 years; psychological restrictions that precluded an understanding of the questionnaire or the study information; physical limitations that did not allow for the use of the digital questionnaire; medically urgent treatment as indicated by triage higher than green according to the Manchester triage system (MTS)
Summary
The assessment of a comprehensive, problem-based medical history is decisive for further goal-oriented diagnostics and has a major influence on the therapy recommendation. Prior studies have identified four main problem areas as critical sources of error in the medical anamnesis [1]: (i) A coherent and concise presentation of the medical history in chronologically correct order is strongly related to the understanding of the patient’s clinical complaints; (ii) face-to-face fear or embarrassment during the patient interview can result in a misleading clinical assessment; (iii) medical terminology and interruptions on the part of the clinician can – due to intimidation or confusion – cause an incomplete description of the problem; (iv) there may be a practitioner bias based on gender, race and/or culture that may result in inappropriate variations in questions and answers and may be an obstacle to obtaining a detailed medical history These factors are of even greater importance in the emergency department, since there is usually no previously created doctor-patient relationship in this environment, and decisions about medical interventions must be made under great time pressure [1]. Patients were asked to complete three consecutive questionnaires: The first questionnaire collected basic epidemiological data to measure past digital usage behaviour, the second questionnaire collected the patient’s medical history, and the third questionnaire assessed the overall perceived user satisfaction when using the tablet-based survey application for medical anamnesis
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