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Review
. 2019 Feb 20;6(2):e9819.
doi: 10.2196/mental.9819.

Mobile Phone and Wearable Sensor-Based mHealth Approaches for Psychiatric Disorders and Symptoms: Systematic Review

Jussi Seppälä #  1   2 , Ilaria De Vita #  3 , Timo Jämsä  4   5   6 , Jouko Miettunen  1   5 , Matti Isohanni  1 , Katya Rubinstein  7 , Yoram Feldman  7 , Eva Grasa  8   9   10 , Iluminada Corripio  8   9   10 , Jesus Berdun  11 , Enrico D'Amico  3 ; M-RESIST Group  12 ; Maria Bulgheroni #  3
Affiliations
Review

Mobile Phone and Wearable Sensor-Based mHealth Approaches for Psychiatric Disorders and Symptoms: Systematic Review

Jussi Seppälä et al. JMIR Ment Health. .

Abstract

Background: Mobile Therapeutic Attention for Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia (m-RESIST) is an EU Horizon 2020-funded project aimed at designing and validating an innovative therapeutic program for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The program exploits information from mobile phones and wearable sensors for behavioral tracking to support intervention administration.

Objective: To systematically review original studies on sensor-based mHealth apps aimed at uncovering associations between sensor data and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in order to support the m-RESIST approach to assess effectiveness of behavioral monitoring in therapy.

Methods: A systematic review of the English-language literature, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, was performed through Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. Studies published between September 1, 2009, and September 30, 2018, were selected. Boolean search operators with an iterative combination of search terms were applied.

Results: Studies reporting quantitative information on data collected from mobile use and/or wearable sensors, and where that information was associated with clinical outcomes, were included. A total of 35 studies were identified; most of them investigated bipolar disorders, depression, depression symptoms, stress, and symptoms of stress, while only a few studies addressed persons with schizophrenia. The data from sensors were associated with symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and depression.

Conclusions: Although the data from sensors demonstrated an association with the symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and depression, their usability in clinical settings to support therapeutic intervention is not yet fully assessed and needs to be scrutinized more thoroughly.

Keywords: EMA; ecological momentary assessment; m-RESIST; mobile phone; psychiatric disorder; schizophrenia; sensors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of study selection process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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