Smartphone tracking helps rate depression, says study
Posted on: 20/Jul/2015 9:55:48 AM
Northwestern University and Michigan State University have published a paper in which they say that depressed people tend to spend more time on their smartphones. The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
According to the study, a group of 40 people were asked to fill a questionnaire. Also, their cell phones were tracked. Locations and phone usage were noted for 2 weeks’ time. Phone usage was calculated according to how long the screen was on.
After the period of study, it was found that when comparing the questionnaire and the phone details, phone details showed a better measure of mental state than the questionnaire. There was an 87 per cent accuracy rate. According to the data collected, depressed people spent an average of 68 minutes a day on their phones, where the not depressed people spent an average of 17 minutes a day. Also, the depressed people tended to log in lesser locations and most preferred to spend a lot of time at home.
