The Geriatric Mental State Schedule Administered With The Aid Of A Microcomputer - A Pilot-Study

A version of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule developed for the microcomputer is described and compared to the usual paper version of the questionnaire. The advantages and disadvantages of the two techniques are discussed. A feasibility study of the microcomputer-administered questionnaire is described. A shortened version of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule (version A) is administered to a number of geriatric patients attending psychogeriatric day hospitals. The study compares the microcomputer-administered with the pencil-and-paper questionnaire. Two raters administer the questionnaire using the two techniques to a group of patients and the reliability is evaluated by comparing the correlation coefficients for the scores obtained on the questionnaire, as well as by evaluating Cohen's kappa statistic. The correlation results show that there is significant positive correlation between the paper and the microcomputer-administered questionnaire. However, the kappa values comparing diagnoses obtained with the AGECAT program are not high and reasons for this are discussed. Further developments of the system, including an authoring program (QUESTLAN) for such questionnaires and the use of portable microcomputers in the community, are discussed.