Can a computer reliably elicit an alcohol history?

The drinking histories of 102 patients were elicited by both a computer and a nurse, with 48 of the patients also being interviewed by a psychiatrist. The computer agreed as closely with the nurse and the psychiatrist as they did with each other. For all three, there was better agreement for screening interviews whose questions are dichotomous (i.e. yes/no) than for interval data such as volume of alcohol consumed. Nevertheless, the agreement for alcohol volume was at least as good as that reported in the literature for inter-rater reliability. Thus a computer can interview patients about their drinking habits as accurately as a nurse or a psychiatrist. In many clinical settings computer interviewing might prevent patients with alcohol-related illnesses remaining undetected.