Smartphone App Effective for Monitoring Schizophrenia Symptoms - Physician's Weekly

A smartphone app for monitoring symptoms and integer phenotyping among radical with schizophrenia was recovered to beryllium feasible and acceptable successful a planetary survey of patients from the United States and India, according to results published successful Digital Health.

“… Access to effectual attraction for radical with schizophrenia remains constricted successful each countries and particularly successful low- and middle-income countries,” the researchers wrote. “Given that aboriginal interventions tin beryllium effectual and alteration the lifelong trajectory of the illness, efforts to supply scalable and accessible attraction for schizophrenia are a planetary intelligence wellness priority. Digital wellness technologies, particularly smartphones, correspond 1 promising attack toward offering specified scalable and accessible care.”

Existing probe demonstrates an involvement in, and openness to, the usage of smartphones arsenic a instrumentality for betterment among patients with schizophrenia, according to Matcheri Keshavan, MD, and colleagues. The researchers besides highlighted grounds showing that smartphones tin supply evidence-based resources, specified arsenic psychoeducation and therapeutic tools, and tin beryllium utilized to show betterment arsenic good arsenic hazard for relapse via integer phenotyping.

Dr. Keshavan and colleagues examined the usage of a smartphone app for analyzing objective and functional information from individuals with schizophrenia. Researchers recruited 60 participants (mean age, 30.62; 50% female) from 3 sites, 1 successful the US and 2 successful India.

Digital Approach Appears Scalable, With Ability to Generate Novel Data

Of the 60 participants who completed the archetypal survey visit, 53 besides completed the first-follow up sojourn and were the lone individuals included successful consequent analyses (mean age, 31; 50% female). Psychotic symptom severity was mild crossed participants astatine the 3 sites, portion cognitive relation was highest for participants astatine the US site.

The full fig of activities per time was 8.8, with nary important differences successful activities completed crossed the 3 sites. The mean fig of activities related to tips and relaxation finished per period varied importantly betwixt survey sites; US participants completed the astir relaxation activities and Indian participants finished the astir activities related to learning tips.

Data prime did not alteration importantly betwixt sites, and the researchers were capable to get astatine slightest 50% of the mean anticipated GPS information points for each sites.

“These findings suggest that planetary probe utilizing the digital phenotyping methods is practical, some feasible and acceptable, and tin make caller data,” Dr. Keshavan and colleagues wrote. “With expanding entree and usage of smartphones crossed astir settings globally, the usage of integer phenotyping is besides perchance scalable crossed antithetic populations.”

Additional investigation of some semipermanent engagement with the app and its objective inferior are needed, according to the survey team.

“Our survey was constricted by a tiny illustration size and the interaction of COVID-19,” the researchers wrote. “However, trends successful smartphone usage successful India and the United States suggest that specified a instrumentality whitethorn beryllium scalable to low-middle income countries to conscionable burgeoning needs for mental health services arsenic an adjuvant to objective care.”