Can a computer take a psychiatric history?

A program on an inexpensive microcomputer was designed to elicit personal histories from patients in a general psychiatric ward. Their answers were compared with the information recorded by the responsible psychiatric team. Where answers disagreed with the clinicians' records, the patient was interviewed to investigate the discrepancy. In the computer-elicited case-histories 90% of items were correct; a further 3% of items were considered correct by the patient. Most patients' computer histories revealed several items unknown to the clinicians and of importance in the management of the patient. Most patients (88%) found that the computer interrogation was as easy as a clinical interview. Computer assessment is proposed as a useful technique for the routine assessment of patients to augment the clinician's findings and to allow him to concentrate on the most relevant areas.