Test-retest reliability in a computer-based medical history.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Services Research
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• The increasing use of digital health tools necessitates reliable methods for collecting patient information.
• Computer-based medical histories offer a scalable approach to patient data collection.
• Ensuring the consistency of patient-reported data is crucial for clinical decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the test-retest reliability of a computer-based medical history questionnaire.
• To identify and revise questions with suboptimal reliability in a digital health context.

Main Methods:

• Developed a comprehensive computer-based medical history with 232 primary questions and over 6000 conditional questions.
• Administered the medical history twice to 48 randomly selected patients with a mean interval of 7 days.
• Analyzed the test-retest reliability of 215 primary questions with standardized response options.

Main Results:

• High test-retest reliability was observed for the majority of the primary questions.
• Five specific questions were identified as needing revision based on reliability analysis.
• The study confirmed the feasibility and general reliability of the internet-based medical history tool.

Conclusions:

• Computer-based medical histories can achieve high test-retest reliability for patient data collection.
• Pre-implementation reliability testing is recommended for structured medical history questions in clinical practice.
• The findings support the use of digital tools for efficient and reliable patient medical history taking.