Matteo Cella1,2, Zhimin He1, Clare Killikelly1, Łukasz Okruszek1,3, Shon Lewis4, Til Wykes1,2. 1. Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. 2. South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK. 3. Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. 4. Division of Psychology & Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
AIMS: Psychotic symptoms fluctuate over time and effective and regular monitoring may contribute to relapse prevention and improve long-term outcomes. In this proof-of-concept study we test the feasibility, acceptability and potential usefulness of a novel digital method assessing the association between physiological signals and psychotic symptom distress. METHODS: Fifteen participants with first episode psychosis were asked to use a self-assessment mobile phone application for psychotic symptom monitoring for 10 days while using a wrist worn device continuously recording heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity (EDA). We compared physiological activity when participants reported experiencing distressing and non-distressing psychotic symptoms. RESULTS: Participants completed on average 76% of the mobile phone symptom assessments. When reporting distressing hallucinations and delusions participants had significantly higher EDA levels and non-significant lower HRV values compared to when these symptoms were non-distressing. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides further evidence linking psychotic symptom's distress, as experienced in everyday life, and autonomic deregulation. This proof-of-concept study may lead to further longer-term efforts to identify relapse biosignatures using automated methods based on passive monitoring. This method may allow for earlier interventions, contribute to improve relapse prevention and reduce symptoms interfering with recovery.
AIMS: Psychotic symptoms fluctuate over time and effective and regular monitoring may contribute to relapse prevention and improve long-term outcomes. In this proof-of-concept study we test the feasibility, acceptability and potential usefulness of a novel digital method assessing the association between physiological signals and psychotic symptom distress. METHODS: Fifteen participants with first episode psychosis were asked to use a self-assessment mobile phone application for psychotic symptom monitoring for 10 days while using a wrist worn device continuously recording heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity (EDA). We compared physiological activity when participants reported experiencing distressing and non-distressing psychotic symptoms. RESULTS:Participants completed on average 76% of the mobile phone symptom assessments. When reporting distressing hallucinations and delusions participants had significantly higher EDA levels and non-significant lower HRV values compared to when these symptoms were non-distressing. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides further evidence linking psychotic symptom's distress, as experienced in everyday life, and autonomic deregulation. This proof-of-concept study may lead to further longer-term efforts to identify relapse biosignatures using automated methods based on passive monitoring. This method may allow for earlier interventions, contribute to improve relapse prevention and reduce symptoms interfering with recovery.
Authors: Andrew I Gumley; Simon Bradstreet; John Ainsworth; Stephanie Allan; Mario Alvarez-Jimenez; Maximillian Birchwood; Andrew Briggs; Sandra Bucci; Sue Cotton; Lidia Engel; Paul French; Reeva Lederman; Shôn Lewis; Matthew Machin; Graeme MacLennan; Hamish McLeod; Nicola McMeekin; Cathy Mihalopoulos; Emma Morton; John Norrie; Frank Reilly; Matthias Schwannauer; Swaran P Singh; Suresh Sundram; Andrew Thompson; Chris Williams; Alison Yung; Lorna Aucott; John Farhall; John Gleeson Journal: Health Technol Assess Date: 2022-05 Impact factor: 4.106
Authors: John Torous; Sandra Bucci; Imogen H Bell; Lars V Kessing; Maria Faurholt-Jepsen; Pauline Whelan; Andre F Carvalho; Matcheri Keshavan; Jake Linardon; Joseph Firth Journal: World Psychiatry Date: 2021-10 Impact factor: 49.548