In a new study from King’s College London, researchers found that individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) who spent more time at home also reported more severe symptoms.
The link between time spent at home and the severity of symptoms offers useful suggestions to improve an individual’s mental health.
In the current study, the team examined the data from 164 participants with a major depressive disorder who were recruited for the RADAR-CNS project.
The study aims to find the relationship between the overall severity of depressive symptoms and median daily homestay. The severity of the depression was assessed by the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire.
Using geolocation data obtained from smartphones and wearables, the researchers could determine the amount of time each participant spent at home.
They found that those who spent more time at home within the 2-week study period reported more severe symptoms of depression.
The study also revealed that those who were older and more severely affected by depression had spent more time at home during the two weeks prior to symptom reports.
The association between time spent at home and symptom severity was stronger on weekdays than on weekends.
More than 264 million people suffer from depression around the world and the condition is commonly associated with other physical or psychological conditions, loss of employment, low quality of life, and suicide.
Symptoms of major depressive disorder can fluctuate and the current evaluation of their severity relies heavily upon the information a patient provides during meetings with clinicians.
Advances in digital technologies are allowing researchers and clinicians to obtain continuous data about an individual’s daily activity and physical condition, which may be able to predict an individual’s well-being and enable timely and effective treatments.
If you care about depression, please read studies about metal in the brain strongly linked to depression, and findings of depression drug that could save COVID-19 patients.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about a core feature of depression, and results showing these depression drugs may lead to higher death risk.
The study was conducted by Petroula Laiou et al., and published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth.
