Computer-Aided Diagnostic Screening for 100 Common Diseases

The heavy load of his professional duties often leaves the practicing physician little time to question each patient fully about symptoms other than those associated with the present illness. Consequently, unless the patient himself brings additional symptoms to the attention of the physician, diseases, some of grave importance, may be overlooked. This communication describes the results of a study of the effectiveness of a multiple-screening method devised to identify patients who have complexes of symptoms significant for 100 diseases frequently encountered in medical practice. The objectives of the method are to screen patients for these diseases effectively, rapidly, and without strain on the physician's time or facilities. The method, called the Medical Data Screen (MDS), is in essence a laboratory-type procedure, in which a questionnaire is used to collect comprehensive histories and a computer is used to categorize and analyze items of history for each of the 100 diseases. The