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Intelligent Database Generated Occupational Questionnaire System

2000; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 42; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00043764-200005000-00004

1536-5948

Philip Harber, Brenda Merz, Ivan Chun Hang Lam, Michael Juntao Yuan, John E. Parker, Weiling Chen,

Risk and Safety Analysis

Obtaining an adequate occupational history requires special expertise to “ask the right questions” that are relevant to a particular patient’s specific health conditions and potential exposures. This article describes a way to systematically accomplish this by means of a computer system that can overcome limited availability of necessary clinical occupational health expertise. The Intelligent Questionnaire system is a computer-based system for generating case-specific questionnaires about the influence of work on respiratory disease. Intelligent Questionnaire includes three databases: Questions, Responses, and Calls (clues to identify questions). The Questionnaire also arranges questions in a logical manner and provides a customized data entry screen for each subject. This approach provides primary practitioners with expertise on a case-by-case basis. It also facilitates occupational health surveillance because it allows acquiring detailed case-specific information in a systematic fashion. A computer-based system can facilitate obtaining occupational histories with high specificity and consistency without depending on general availability of a human occupational health clinical expertise.