Smartphone use can detect depression

New York: The more time you spend on your phone, the more likely you are suffering from depression, says a study. According to researchers, depression can be detected from your smartphone sensor data by tracking the number of minutes you use the phone and your daily geographical locations.

The team from Northwestern University found that the average daily usage for depressed individuals was about 68 minutes. For non-depressed individuals, it was about 17 minutes. Spending most of your time at home and most of your time in fewer locations was also linked to depression.

Also, having a less regular day-to-day schedule, leaving your house and going to work at different times each day, for example, is also linked to depression. Phones can provide data unobtrusively and with no effort on the part of the user. Based on the phone sensor data, scientists could identify people with depressive symptoms with 87 per cent accuracy, say researchers.

When people are depressed, they tend to withdraw and do not have the motivation or energy to go out and do things.The team analysed the GPS locations and phone usage for 28 individuals over two weeks. The sensor tracked GPS locations every five minutes. The research could ultimately lead to monitoring people at risk of depression and enabling health care providers to intervene more quickly.