Detecting symptoms of depression as quickly as possible is crucial. Taking into account that this mental disorder affects more than 350 million people in the world and that it is considered the main cause of disability among the population, using the technology that now rests on our hands on a daily basis does not seem so bizarre.
Thus, an investigation carried out by the Northwestern University School of Medicine, in Evanston, Illinois (USA) proposes a simple tool that is already used among the medical community either to monitor diets, physical exercise or treatments. Thanks to the use of the mobile phone, we can also know if the individual is depressed or not .
To do this, the researchers tracked the number of minutes the study participants used the smartphone, as well as their daily geographic locations. In total, 20 women and 8 men participated with a mean age of 29 years . The average use for depressed people was 68 minutes a day, while those who were not, only used their mobile phone for 17 minutes a day.
“The importance is that it can be detected if a person has depressive symptoms and the severity of the symptoms without asking any questions. We now have an objective measure of depression-related behavior and we are passively detecting it . The phones can provide data discreetly and without any effort on the part of the user ”, explains David Mohr, leader of the study.
Based on data from the phone’s sensor, the scientists were able to identify people with depressive symptoms with 87% accuracy , further associating it with less geographic mobility.
“The data that showed that depressed people tend not to go to many places and reflects the loss of motivation seen in depression. When people are depressed, they tend to withdraw and don’t have the motivation or energy to get out there and do things, ”adds Mohr.
The research has been published in The Journal of Medical Internet Research .
