Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access originally published online on October 10, 2007
Schizophrenia Bulletin 2008 34(3):507-514; doi:10.1093/schbul/sbm113
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feasibility and Validity of Computerized Ecological Momentary Assessment in Schizophrenia
2 Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System (116B), 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161
3 Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA
4 National Scientific Research Center (CNRS), France
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; tel: 858-552-8585, fax: 858-642-6416, e-mail: egranholm{at}ucsd.edu.
Background: Computerized Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMAc) techniques permit the assessment of daily life behaviors and experiences. The present investigation examined the feasibility and validity of this assessment methodology in outpatients with schizophrenia. Methods: Outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n = 54) received a battery of standard laboratory clinical and functional outcome measures and then completed electronic questionnaires on a personal digital assistant (PDA) microcomputer 4 times per day for 1 week. Results: Generally good compliance (87%) with EMAc was found, and participants rated their experience with the study positively. The data collected in daily life demonstrated expected patterns across the assessment week and were significantly associated with scores from standard laboratory instruments measuring similar constructs. Conclusions: EMAc is a feasible and valid approach to data collection in community-dwelling people with schizophrenia, and it may provide important information that is inaccessible via standard clinical and functional outcome measures administered in the laboratory.
Keywords: Schizophrenia / psychosis / Experience Sampling Method / PDA handheld computers / functioning