Computer skills in patients with movement disorders.
BACKGROUND
Electronic communication is important in healthcare, but the level of computer proficiency among patients with neurological disorders is unknown.


OBJECTIVE
This study sought to determine the proportion of a movement disorder clinic population that was able to perform basic computer skills, and the effect of specific cognitive and motor features on computer proficiency.


METHODS
One hundred and four movement disorder patients participated. Seventy-four completed both paper and computerized questionnaires to evaluate data entry skills and thirty subjects completed paper questionnaires only. Basic e-mail messaging and Internet skills were evaluated. Demographic information, Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score, and Hoehn and Yahr stage were assessed.


RESULTS
Ninety-six percent of subjects successfully completed computerized data entry tasks, and over 70% completed e-mail and Internet tasks. Computer data entry had an average accuracy of nearly 95% when compared to paper data entry. Poorer performance on computer tasks was associated with older age, less education, and cognitive impairment. Computer performance was reduced in subjects with a history of parkinsonism and when both tremor and dyskinesia were present during task performance. Nearly three-quarters of subjects have access to a computer. Subjects who completed the paper questionnaire but refused to complete the computer questionnaire were older, less educated and more cognitively impaired.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients visiting a tertiary movement disorders center were able to perform computer data entry, e-mail messaging and Internet usage. These results reinforce the potential value of electronic communication and information systems in neurology practice.
Beck
H
H
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Shulman
L M
LM
Dusaj
R
R
Anderson
K E
KE
Weiner
W J
WJ
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface