Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T11:07:04.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An introduction to computer diagnosis in psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Janice Morgan*
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, London W2 1NY
Lester Sireling
Affiliation:
Barnet General Hospital, Barnet EN5 3DJ
*
Correspondence
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The concept of computer diagnosis in medicine is not new. As early as 1971, a computer program was demonstrated to be more accurate than a senior clinician at diagnosing acute abdominal pain before surgery. In psychiatry, however, the problems surrounding diagnosis and classification are more complex than in other branches of medicine, depending as they do on the clinical interview and some agreed classificatory system in the absence of external validating criteria. Reliability has been improved by the application of standardised interview techniques and by the use of operationalised diagnostic criteria but such tools are lengthy and their use requires specialist training. Consequently they tend to be reserved for research purposes rather than routine clinical use. The potential contribution of computer technology to the vexed question of psychiatric diagnosis is here evaluated.

Type
Original papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994

References

Ancill, R.J., Rogers, D. & Carr, A.C. (1985) Comparison of computerised self rating scales for depression with conventional observer rating. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 71, 315317.Google Scholar
Levitan, R.D., Blouin, A.G., Navarro, J.R. & Hill, J. (1991) Validity of the computerised DIS for diagnosing psychiatric inpatients. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 36, 728731.Google Scholar
Lewis, G., Pelosi, A.J., Glover, E., Wilkinson, G., et al (1988) The development of a computerised assessment for minor psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine, 18, 737745.Google Scholar
Overby, J. (1987). An expert system prototype for aiding psychiatrists in the diagnosis of psychotic disorder. Computers in Biology and Medicine. 17, 338392.Google Scholar
Wing, J.K., Babor, T., Brugha, T., Burke, J., et al (1990) SCAN – Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. Archives of General Psychiatry. 47, 589593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.