About this event
The use and ownership of smartphone and wearable technology has increased exponentially in the last decade. Many features of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are amenable to assessment via remote measurement technologies (RMT): for example, heart rate from sensors in wrist-worn wearable devices can give information indicative of sleep patterns and physical activity levels.
Smartphone data such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Bluetooth, gyroscope, phone screen interactions, ambient noise and light levels have also been used to unobtrusively collect information relating to sociability, movement and activity associated with low mood. These data, collected via inbuilt sensors, can be paired with app-delivered questionnaires to paint a complex picture of the psychological, social and behavioural characteristics of chronic depression.
However, long-term engagement with these technologies is hugely variable; and people with underlying depression may be more at risk of low uptake and discontinued use of RMT in comparison to non-clinical samples. Assessing and understanding this engagement is essential to enabling RMT to reach its full potential in supporting people with MDD.
Remote Assessment of Depression and Relapse: Major Depressive Disorder (RADAR-MDD) is a multicentre, longitudinal prospective cohort study examining the use of RMT to monitor depressive symptoms and predict relapse. Central to RADAR-MDD, has been a focus on usability, engagement and acceptability. This has involved extensive patient and public involvement in both the design and conduct of the study. Focus groups and a dedicated Patient Advisory Board informed the project at every stage. Regular usability and acceptability assessments were conducted throughout the duration of the project (up-to 2 years).
Here, the consortium presents the participation and retention rates throughout the RADAR-MDD study. They report the amount of data collected throughout follow-up, and the findings of analyses examining predictors of long-term engagement with RMT in people with MDD.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation.
To register to attend
This seminar is open to the general public, members of the RADAR-CNS consortium and their research participants.
The link to Microsoft Teams will be circulated to attendees ahead of the seminar.
About the speakers
Dr Faith Matcham is a Health Psychologist and researcher in the field of digital mental health. She is currently a lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Sussex. Prior to this, she worked at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, as a researcher for the Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse – Central Nervous System (RADAR-CNS) project: an Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. She primarily coordinated the Major Depressive Disorder work-package, investigating the utility of wearable technologies and smartphone sensors to predict relapse in people with recurrent depression, managing a team of research assistants, mental health nurses and computer scientists. Her webinar will describe the findings from a range of analyses conducted on data collected throughout the RADAR-MDD study, aiming to understand engagement with remote measurement technologies in individuals with major depression.
About RADAR-CNS
Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse in Central Nervous System Disorders (RADAR-CNS) is a major international research project. It aims to develop new ways of measuring major depressive disorder, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis (MS) using wearable devices and smartphone technology.
RADAR-CNS aims to improve people’s quality of life and change how depression, epilepsy and MS are managed and treated. Data from mobile devices can give a full picture of a person’s condition at a level of detail which was previously impossible. This offers the potential to detect changes in behaviour, sleep, or mood before the individual themselves is aware of it. This could help them to predict – or even avoid – a relapse.
RADAR-CNS brings together clinicians, researchers, engineers, computer scientists and bioinformaticians from all over the world. It is jointly led by King’s College London and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. The project is funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative — a Public Private Partnership set up between the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and the European Union). It includes 23 organisations from across Europe and the US.
You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/engagement-with-remote-measurement-technology-in-major-depressive-disorder-registration-313235304227