Collecting Data from a Mobile App and a Smartwatch Supports Treatment of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

Mental disorders affect individuals and societies around the world negatively, with the health-related burden of 32,4% out of the overall disease burden. This large part of the overall burden underlines a growing need for innovation to support the treatment of mental disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This empirical study features two groups of patients; a group of nine patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and a group of twelve patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The patients in the study carry a smartwatch for six weeks, continuously collecting data into a digital health platform. Additionally, they answer five daily wellbeing questions in a mobile app. To supplement that data, they also answer a questionnaire three times over the interval and at the end of the period they attend a semi-structured interview. We offer four main aspects to consider for PGHD in mental health: i) sharing data easily with healthcare professionals, ii) being able to engage with your own PGHD, iii) the watch use can help the patients regulate routine in their daily life, iv) tonality and phrasing.