A feasibility study of computer-assisted health-related quality of life data collection in patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer

Touchscreen technology (TST) has been widely used in the field of medicine. The purpose of this study was to pilot a standard TST system to administer the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire (UWQOL) in a routine head and neck oncology clinic. The UWQOLv4 was completed using TST and a semi-structured interview was used to evaluate patients' experience of the data collection process. Forty-one of 44 consecutive cancer patients agreed to participate in the study. Although over three-quarters of patients reported never having used a computer, all but one found the UWQOLv4 'easy' or 'very easy' to complete using the TST. They preferred the TST method to paper copy and the vast majority completed the TST in 10min or less. TST provides a very suitable mechanism for routine health-related quality of life data collection. The system is easy to programme and relatively inexpensive.