Smartphones (Photo : Reuters)
A person's smartphone habits could be used to detect signs of depression, a new study suggests.
The results of a study by researchers at the Northwestern University of Chicago suggest that, monitoring mobile phone usage could provide valuable data in determining a person's state of mind
According to the study, the longer the time a person spent on their mobile phone, doing things from calls, text messages, surfing online and playing games, the higher the likelihood of the subject being depressed.
The study suggested that on average, depressed individuals spent around 68 minutes while non-depressed individuals spent an average of 17 minutes a day using their devices.
Keeping track of a person's movements through GPS, the researchers were able to measure factors such as longer time periods spent in certain locations and irregular daily schedules, which pointed to a tendency to be depressed. By collecting data through subject's phones, the researchers were able to achieve an accuracy rate of around 87 percent.
According to the study, the longer the time a person spent on their mobile phone, doing things from calls, text messages, surfing online and playing games, the higher the likelihood of the subject being depressed.
The study suggested that on average, depressed individuals spent around 68 minutes while non-depressed individuals spent an average of 17 minutes a day using their devices.
Keeping track of a person's movements through GPS, the researchers were able to measure factors such as longer time periods spent in certain locations and irregular daily schedules, which pointed to a tendency to be depressed. By collecting data through the subject's phones, the researchers were able to achieve an accuracy rate of around 86.5 percent.
Depression is one of the most prevalent illnesses with an estimated 350 million sufferers globally, with less than half of those affected being treated, according to the World Health Organization. Adding that one of the barriers to the effective treatment of this illness is the inaccurate assessment of sufferers.
"We now have an objective measure of behavior related to depression. And we're detecting it passively. Phones can provide data unobtrusively and with no effort on the part of the user" said senior author David Mohr, director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
