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Patients are often asked to rate their feelings using a rating scale, when talking to psychologists or doctors about their mental health. This is currently how depression and anxiety are diagnosed. However, a new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that allowing patients to describe their experience using their own words - is potentially viewed as more precise and preferred by the patients. The Lund researchers have developed an AI-tool that could help doctors analyze their patients’ answers.
The study, published in PLOS ONE, shows that clinicians and patients differ somewhat, as clinics often prefer rating scales when diagnosing a patient (e.g., little interest in doing things: not at all, sometimes, often, daily) whereas patients prefer free language (e.g., Describe your mental health).
The researchers surveyed a group of 150 patients with self-diagnosed depression or anxiety, posing the same questions to a control group of 150 other participants.