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Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on November 1, 2005
Rheumatology 2006 45(1):66-71; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kei100
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Touch-screen computer systems in the rheumatology clinic offer a reliable and user-friendly means of collecting quality-of-life and outcome data from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

M. C. Greenwood, A. J. Hakim, E. Carson1 and D. V. Doyle

The Academic Rheumatology and Osteoporosis Unit, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, Leytonstone, London E11 1NR and 1 Centre for Health Informatics, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK.

Correspondence to: M. C. Greenwood, The Academic Rheumatology and Osteoporosis Unit, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, Leytonstone, London E11 1NR, UK. E-mail: Mandy.Greenwood{at}whippsx.nhs.uk

Objectives. To investigate the feasibility of collecting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient self-administered outcome data using touch-screen computers in a routine out-patient clinic.

Methods. Forty patients with RA completed the touch-screen and paper Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RAQol) in the clinic and rated ease of use and preference. Forty-five others completed the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and visual analogue scales (VASs) for pain, fatigue and global arthritis activity on touch screen and paper and a joint assessment on touch screen. They rated ease of use and willingness to complete the assessment again. Joints were independently assessed, and completion times and technical problems recorded.

Results. No technical problems were encountered. The touch-screen RAQol took no longer to complete, was preferred by 64% (33% had no preference) and was rated significantly higher for ease of use (two-tailed P=0.003, n=40) even by computer naïve patients (two-tailed P=0.031, n=24). Intraclass correlation coefficients between methods were high for RAQol (0.986) and tender joint counts (0.918), and as high for the pain, fatigue and global activity (0.855, 0.741, 0.881) as for test–retest of the paper versions (0.865, 0.746, 0.863). Ninety-eight per cent rated the touch screen very/quite easy for HAQ and VAS, and 90% for joint assessment. Ninety-six per cent stated a willingness to complete the touch-screen assessment in clinic again.

Conclusions. Touch-screen questionnaires in the clinic can produce comparable results to paper, eliminate the need for data entry and afford immediate access to results. It is an acceptable, and in many cases a preferable, option to paper, regardless of age and previous experience of computers.

KEY WORDS: Rheumatoid arthritis, Touch screen, Quality of life, Joint counts, Disability, Outcome, Electronic data capture, Visual analogue scale, HAQ


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I. G. de Boer and T. P. M. Vliet Vlieland
Re: Touch screen computer systems in the rheumatology clinic offer a reliable and user-friendly means of collecting quality-of-life and outcome data from patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatology, August 1, 2006; 45(8): 1050 - 1051.
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