Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026
E-Patient Counseling Trial (E-PACO): Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
In a randomized controlled trial, patients preferred electronic data collection of breast cancer risk-factor
Erin J Aiello1, Stephen Taplin, Robert Reid
1Group Health Cooperative, Center for Health Studies, 1730 Minor Ave, Suite 1600, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. aiello.e@ghc.org
Background And Objective:
We evaluated patient acceptance of an electronic questionnaire to collect breast cancer risk-factor data in a mammography setting.
Methods:
We developed an electronic questionnaire on a tablet computer incorporating prefilled answers and skip patterns. Using a randomized controlled study design, we tested the survey in a mammography clinic that administers a paper risk-factor questionnaire to every woman at her screening mammogram. We randomized 160 women to use the electronic survey (experimental group, n = 86) or paper survey (control group, n = 74). We evaluated patient acceptance and data completeness.
Results:
Overall, 70.4% of the experimental group women thought the survey was very easy to use, compared to 55.6% of women in the control group. Ninety percent of experimental group women preferred using the tablet, compared to the paper questionnaire. Preference for the tablet did not differ by age; however, women > or = 60 years did not find the tablet as easy to use as did women < 60 years. The proportion of missing data was significantly lower on the tablet compared to the paper questionnaire (4.6% vs. 6.2%, P = .04).
Conclusion:
Electronic questionnaires are feasible to use in a mammography setting, can improve data quality, and are preferred by women regardless of age.
