Health
Study: Online screening tools effective in monitoring teen behavior
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 23, 2008
Risks of injury, depressive symptoms and drug and alcohol use were more readily identified among the teens who responded to a set of questions via a Web application called the Health eTouch while in the waiting room of a clinic and just before heading in to see the physician.
A study of 878 primary care patients found that the computers were able to elicit responses that identified these risky behaviors more effectively than were the time-strapped pediatricians who were screening the teens. The study is in the June Pediatrics.
"Our research has found that recent advances in information technology, such as the Health eTouch system, and the immediate reporting of computerized screening results may help overcome barriers to behavioral screening," said Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH, director of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital's Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practices in Columbus, Ohio.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/06/23/hlbf0623.htm.
