Computerized diagnostic tools have made havoc in medical science for last few decades. With the help of computerized expert tool, psychiatric illnesses can be diagnosed fast, with good accuracy rate and free from human bias. Moreover, in Indian rural health sectors, where psychiatrists are less in number, computerized screening tool could be extremely helpful for the general physicians to evaluate mental patients. The present tool, PsyConsaltant I has a long questionnaire, covering eleven broad domains of psychiatric illnesses and their sub domains. The questionnaire is set with the guidance of qualified psychiatrists to incorporate clinical experiences along with DSM-IV nosology and is put together in a computer program using logical decision tree. Finally the performance of the tol has been tested on a large set of patients and its diagnostic accuracy rate is found to be over 55% (with some variations in individual domains) and having statistical significance level 0.05.
A DSM-IV based screening tool for Adult psychiatric disorders in Indian Rural health Centre has been discussed in REF .
Psyconsultant I: A DSM-IV-Based Screening Tool For Adult Psychiatric Disorders In Indian Rural Health Center
Journal of Medical Informatics
Medicine