Patent ID: 7818185

Claim:
A computer based system for assessing the impact of an ailment on a health related quality of life (HRQOL) domain of a patient, wherein said HRQOL domain comprises a plurality of indicators of functional health and well being, comprising: a microprocessor configured to: generate a customized test having a plurality of questions for said patient to determine the impact of said ailment on said HRQOL domain, wherein each question comprises an indicator of functional health and well being as a result of said ailment, wherein said indicator is stably scaled across ailments whose impact is to be assessed to establish a standardized common metric for comparing the impact of various ailments; administer said test by providing one question at a time to said patient; evaluate, after each question, answers provided by said patient to estimate an ailment impact score and a confidence level in the accuracy of said estimated ailment impact score; vary a threshold, after each question, as a function of said estimated aliment impact score during administration of said test to said patient; and dynamically modify said test if said estimated confidence level is outside said threshold; an interface associated with said microprocessor to present said test to said patient and to receive said answers provided by said patient; and a database associated with said processor to store said test, said plurality of questions, said answers provided by said patient, and said estimated ailment impact score.