Validation of a computer version of the patient-administered Danish Prostatic Symptom Score questionnaire

Objective: To validate a computer version of the Danish Prostatic Symptom S core (DAN-PSS) questionnaire and compare it with the paper version. Material and methods: Ninety-three male patients (aged 25-87 years). referr ed to a department of urology for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), fill ed in a personal computer (PC) version and a paper version of the DAN-PSS q uestionnaire. Subsequently they answered a questionnaire concerning their p references and computer experience. Results: A fair correlation between the total scores from the paper and PC versions was found. The differences were independent of both total score an d age. In the PC version all LUTS questions were answered while 9.8% were l eft blank in the paper version. The sexual questions were answered by 71% o f patients in the paper version and by 87.5% in the PC version. For the que stions in the PC version a learning curve was observed in terms of the time taken to answer the questions. Previous computer experience did not influe nce answering time, difference in score between paper and PC versions or to tal score. Almost all patients preferred the PC version to the paper versio n. Conclusion: The PC scores are reasonably reliable judging by comparison wit h previously validated traditional paper scores. The PC questionnaire had a higher response rate and was: preferred by the majority of patients.