RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The therapeutic effect of taking a patient's history by computer JF The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners JO J R Coll Gen Pract FD British Journal of General Practice SP 477 OP 481 VO 27 IS 181 A1 G. A. W. Dove A1 P. Wigg A1 J. H. C. Clarke A1 Maria Constantinidou A1 B. A. Royappa A1 C. R. Evans A1 Judy Milne A1 C. Goss A1 M. Gordon A1 H. E. de Wardener YR 1977 UL http://bjgp.org/content/27/181/477.abstract AB Sixty young women who presented at a general-practice health centre had their medical and social history taken by a computer before having an interview with the doctor. The average length of the automated interview was 90 minutes for the 54 patients who completed the programme, during which an average of 211 questions were answered. The patients found this method acceptable and we think that one of the main reasons for this was that the computer programme was so designed that the patients felt that the doctor was involved throughout. The computer/patient interview also appeared to have therapeutic benefits, and the computer's summary of the history was a sensitive indicator of those topics about which the patient was most concerned. This combination enabled the doctor to communicate more quickly and in greater depth in the time available. In effect, the time which the doctor could spend with the patient was magnified. We suggest that the benefits of this system for taking a history from a patient, of which one is the fact that any language or combination of languages can be used, could be extended to all classes of society.