Researchers at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) have validated the effectiveness of an electronic questionnaire system for accurately diagnosing and providing tailored treatment for pediatric headache patients.
A SNUBH research team validated the efficacy of an electronic questionnaire system for pediatric headache diagnosis.
They are from left, Professors Kim Hun-min, Cho Jae-so, Lee Ho-young, and Yoo Soo-young. (Credit: SNUBH)
Pediatric headache is a common neurological symptom, with a high prevalence of 54–58 percent. However, the conventional history-taking process often fails to provide a detailed diagnosis due to time constraints and missing information.
To address this issue, a research team, led by Professors Kim Hunmin, Cho Jae-so from the Department of Pediatrics, Lee Ho-young of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, and Yoo Soo-young of the Healthcare ICT center, developed an automated electronic questionnaire system to collect comprehensive and accurate patient history data.
The team then conducted a comparative analysis of patient data before and after the system's implementation to evaluate its effectiveness.
The study focused on the integration of a specialized pediatric headache module into the hospital’s self-developed electronic questionnaire system, the Bundang Hospital Electronic System for Total Care-Survey (BEST-Survey).
This system enables pediatric headache patients to complete a 35-item electronic survey on a tablet PC before their consultation, with the collected data automatically stored in the hospital's electronic medical records (EMR) for immediate use by physicians.
By allowing patients to complete the survey while waiting for their appointment, the system enhances diagnostic precision and improves the efficiency of medical consultations.
The study analyzed data from 365 pediatric headache patients who visited SNUBH before the system's adoption and 452 patients who were examined after its introduction in 2015.
The results demonstrated a significant improvement in data completeness and key clinical information collection rates. Before the implementation of the electronic questionnaire, the completeness of patient information stood at 54.5 percent, which surged to 99.3 percent post-implementation.
Also, the collection rate of essential clinical information, such as headache onset, location, and duration, improved from 53.7 percent to 98.7 percent.
The system also facilitated the classification of headache subtypes, enabling more precise and personalized treatment for patients. The study found that the most common headache location among pediatric patients was the temporal region (37.1 percent), while the most frequently reported pain characteristic was pulsating pain (21.8 percent)
More than half of the patients (51.3 percent) experienced headaches lasting less than two hours.
“While this system does not completely replace a physician’s history-taking, it allows for the collection of detailed and accurate information before the consultation, thereby improving the efficiency of medical diagnosis,” Professor Cho said. “Especially for children who struggle to articulate their symptoms, this system helps gather precise information in a structured manner with parental assistance.”
Professor Kim also said, “Our research demonstrates that an electronic questionnaire system can significantly enhance the accuracy and efficiency of pediatric headache diagnosis and treatment.”
Moving forward, the team plans to integrate artificial intelligence and big data analysis technologies to further develop the system into a more sophisticated diagnostic and personalized treatment support platform, Kim added.
The study’s findings were recently published in the latest issue of JMIR Medical Informatics.
Source: https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=26538
