Computer-assisted telephone administration of a structured interview for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health
• Computer Science Applications
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) assessment traditionally relies on manual administration of rating scales.
• Telephone and mail-based assessments are common but can be time-consuming and costly.
• Efficient and reliable data acquisition is crucial for clinical research and patient monitoring in OCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a computer-assisted telephone system for administering OCD rating scales.
• To assess the reliability and agreement of the automated system compared to traditional methods.
• To determine the feasibility of using digitized speech for instantaneous and low-cost data collection in mental health.

Main Methods:

• Development of a computer-assisted telephone system utilizing digitized human speech.
• Administration of two standardized OCD rating scales via the automated system to 18 patients.
• Comparison of scores obtained from the automated system with those from human-administered telephone and mail-based paper-and-pencil scales.

Main Results:

• Scores generated by the computer-assisted telephone system showed strong agreement with human-administered scales.
• The automated system demonstrated high reliability in assessing OCD symptom severity.
• Data acquisition using the system was found to be instantaneous and cost-effective.

Conclusions:

• Computer-assisted telephone administration of OCD scales using digitized speech is a reliable and valid method.
• This technology offers a low-cost, efficient alternative for data collection in OCD research and clinical practice.
• The system enables instantaneous data acquisition, potentially improving patient management and research efficiency.