Author:

Keywords:

Electronic, Assessment, screening, Pain, Discomfort, on-site, onsite, SISTA, Science & Technology, Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications, Computer Science, Theory & Methods, Engineering, Biomedical, Medical Informatics, Computer Science, Engineering, Screening, On-site, QUALITY-OF-LIFE, SCALE, VALIDATION, MANAGEMENT, DEMENTIA, PEOPLE, SYSTEM, Aged, 80 and over, Databases, Factual, Dementia, Female, Humans, Observer Variation, Pain Measurement, Software, 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, 0903 Biomedical Engineering, 0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 4003 Biomedical engineering, 4601 Applied computing, 4603 Computer vision and multimedia computation

Abstract:

Over the recent years pen-paper observational assessment scales have proven to be useful to monitor behaviour and responses of humans and animals. Observational assessment tools are typically applied for subjects who are not able to communicate directly. For example pain assessment on young children or lameness assessment for evaluating horses. For on-site observational assessment however it is hard to record and validate timing patterns of observed events using pen-paper scales. Although timing information is in many cases assumed highly valuable, only (videotaped) laboratory scales are able to benefit from this knowledge. In this paper we digitalize pen-paper assessment scales resulting in new functionalities capable to improve assessment scores. A case study for on-site pain/discomfort assessment on severely demented people is presented. The resulting system is an electronic device with a graphical user interface (GUI) on a touch screen. The device allows easily registering and evaluating complex timing patterns of behaviours and responses, on-site. This feature could result in a new generation of more accurate observational assessment instruments. Moreover digital information is stored in a database improving administration, providing immediate feedback and allowing applications like: visualisation, statistical analysis and scientific research like data mining.