User interface for collecting association information

A computer-program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and a computer-program mechanism embedded therein to collect information associated with a chronic disease having episodic manifestations, the computer-program mechanism including:

• instructions for receiving information specifying an occurrence of a temporal onset of an episodic manifestation of the chronic disease in an individual during a time interval, wherein the time interval corresponds to a first temporal sampling rate;
• instructions for providing a question and associated categorical answers about exposure of the individual to a potential trigger of the episodic manifestation, wherein the categorical answers include time intervals corresponding to the first temporal sampling rate;
• instructions for receiving an answer to the question, wherein the answer specifies at least one of the time intervals;
• if the time interval and at least the one of the time intervals are the same, instructions for providing another question and additional associated categorical answers about the exposure of the individual to the potential trigger of the episodic manifestation, wherein the additional categorical answers include additional time intervals corresponding to a second temporal sampling rate within the time interval, and wherein the additional categorical answers specify a causal relationship between the exposure of the individual to the potential trigger of the episodic manifestation and the occurrence of the temporal onset of the episodic manifestation of the chronic disease in the individual;
• and
• instructions for receiving another answer to the other question, wherein the other answer specifies at least one of the additional time intervals.

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory;
• and
• a program module, wherein the program module is stored in the memory and configurable to be executed by the processor to collect information associated with a chronic disease having episodic manifestations, the program module including:
• instructions for receiving information specifying an occurrence of a temporal onset of an episodic manifestation of the chronic disease in an individual during a time interval, wherein the time interval corresponds to a first temporal sampling rate;
• instructions for providing a question and associated categorical answers about exposure of the individual to a potential trigger of the episodic manifestation, wherein the categorical answers include time intervals corresponding to the first temporal sampling rate;
• instructions for receiving an answer to the question, wherein the answer specifies at least one of the time intervals;
• if the time interval and at least the one of the time intervals are the same, instructions for providing another question and additional associated categorical answers about the exposure of the individual to the potential trigger of the episodic manifestation, wherein the additional categorical answers include additional time intervals corresponding to a second temporal sampling rate within the time interval, and wherein the additional categorical answers specify a causal relationship between the exposure of the individual to the potential trigger of the episodic manifestation and the occurrence of the temporal onset of the episodic manifestation of the chronic disease in the individual;
• and
• instructions for receiving another answer to the other question, wherein the other answer specifies at least one of the additional time intervals.