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Worthington MA, Christie RH, Masino AJ, Kark SM. Identifying Unmet Needs in Major Depressive Disorder Using a Computer-Assisted Alternative to Conventional Thematic Analysis: Qualitative Interview Study With Psychiatrists. JMIR Form Res 2024; 8:e48894. [PMID: 38427407 PMCID: PMC10943432 DOI: 10.2196/48894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The development of digital health tools that are clinically relevant requires a deep understanding of the unmet needs of stakeholders, such as clinicians and patients. One way to reveal unforeseen stakeholder needs is through qualitative research, including stakeholder interviews. However, conventional qualitative data analytical approaches are time-consuming and resource-intensive, rendering them untenable in many industry settings where digital tools are conceived of and developed. Thus, a more time-efficient process for identifying clinically relevant target needs for digital tool development is needed. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to address the need for an accessible, simple, and time-efficient alternative to conventional thematic analysis of qualitative research data through text analysis of semistructured interview transcripts. In addition, we sought to identify important themes across expert psychiatrist advisor interview transcripts to efficiently reveal areas for the development of digital tools that target unmet clinical needs. METHODS We conducted 10 (1-hour-long) semistructured interviews with US-based psychiatrists treating major depressive disorder. The interviews were conducted using an interview guide that comprised open-ended questions predesigned to (1) understand the clinicians' experience of the care management process and (2) understand the clinicians' perceptions of the patients' experience of the care management process. We then implemented a hybrid analytical approach that combines computer-assisted text analyses with deductive analyses as an alternative to conventional qualitative thematic analysis to identify word combination frequencies, content categories, and broad themes characterizing unmet needs in the care management process. RESULTS Using this hybrid computer-assisted analytical approach, we were able to identify several key areas that are of interest to clinicians in the context of major depressive disorder and would be appropriate targets for digital tool development. CONCLUSIONS A hybrid approach to qualitative research combining computer-assisted techniques with deductive techniques provides a time-efficient approach to identifying unmet needs, targets, and relevant themes to inform digital tool development. This can increase the likelihood that useful and practical tools are built and implemented to ultimately improve health outcomes for patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle A Worthington
- AiCure, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | | | - Aaron J Masino
- AiCure, New York, NY, United States
- The School of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
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Parvin S, Nimmy SF, Kamal MS. Convolutional neural network based data interpretable framework for Alzheimer's treatment planning. Vis Comput Ind Biomed Art 2024; 7:3. [PMID: 38296864 PMCID: PMC10830981 DOI: 10.1186/s42492-024-00154-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurological disorder that predominantly affects the brain. In the coming years, it is expected to spread rapidly, with limited progress in diagnostic techniques. Various machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have been employed to detect AD using single-modality data. However, recent developments in ML have enabled the application of these methods to multiple data sources and input modalities for AD prediction. In this study, we developed a framework that utilizes multimodal data (tabular data, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, and genetic information) to classify AD. As part of the pre-processing phase, we generated a knowledge graph from the tabular data and MRI images. We employed graph neural networks for knowledge graph creation, and region-based convolutional neural network approach for image-to-knowledge graph generation. Additionally, we integrated various explainable AI (XAI) techniques to interpret and elucidate the prediction outcomes derived from multimodal data. Layer-wise relevance propagation was used to explain the layer-wise outcomes in the MRI images. We also incorporated submodular pick local interpretable model-agnostic explanations to interpret the decision-making process based on the tabular data provided. Genetic expression values play a crucial role in AD analysis. We used a graphical gene tree to identify genes associated with the disease. Moreover, a dashboard was designed to display XAI outcomes, enabling experts and medical professionals to easily comprehend the prediction results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sazia Parvin
- Information Technology, Melbourne Polytechnic, Melbourne, VIC 3072, Australia.
| | - Sonia Farhana Nimmy
- Faculty of Economics and Business, University of New South Wales, Sydney, ACT 2612, Australia
| | - Md Sarwar Kamal
- School of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
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Kark SM, Worthington MA, Christie RH, Masino AJ. Opportunities for digital health technology: identifying unmet needs for bipolar misdiagnosis and depression care management. Front Digit Health 2023; 5:1221754. [PMID: 37771820 PMCID: PMC10523347 DOI: 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1221754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Digital health technologies (DHTs) driven by artificial intelligence applications, particularly those including predictive models derived with machine learning methods, have garnered substantial attention and financial investment in recent years. Yet, there is little evidence of widespread adoption and scant proof of gains in patient health outcomes. One factor of this paradox is the disconnect between DHT developers and digital health ecosystem stakeholders, which can result in developing technologies that are highly sophisticated but clinically irrelevant. Here, we aimed to uncover challenges faced by psychiatrists treating patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Specifically, we focused on challenges psychiatrists raised about bipolar disorder (BD) misdiagnosis. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 United States-based psychiatrists. We applied text and thematic analysis to the resulting interview transcripts. Results Three main themes emerged: (1) BD is often misdiagnosed, (2) information crucial to evaluating BD is often occluded from clinical observation, and (3) BD misdiagnosis has important treatment implications. Discussion Using upstream stakeholder engagement methods, we were able to identify a narrow, unforeseen, and clinically relevant problem. We propose an organizing framework for development of digital tools based upon clinician-identified unmet need.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Aaron J. Masino
- AiCure, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Biomedical Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Misiak B, Samochowiec J, Kowalski K, Gaebel W, Bassetti CLA, Chan A, Gorwood P, Papiol S, Dom G, Volpe U, Szulc A, Kurimay T, Kärkkäinen H, Decraene A, Wisse J, Fiorillo A, Falkai P. The future of diagnosis in clinical neurosciences: Comparing multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. Eur Psychiatry 2023; 66:e58. [PMID: 37476977 PMCID: PMC10486256 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The ongoing developments of psychiatric classification systems have largely improved reliability of diagnosis, including that of schizophrenia. However, with an unknown pathophysiology and lacking biomarkers, its validity still remains low, requiring further advancements. Research has helped establish multiple sclerosis (MS) as the central nervous system (CNS) disorder with an established pathophysiology, defined biomarkers and therefore good validity and significantly improved treatment options. Before proposing next steps in research that aim to improve the diagnostic process of schizophrenia, it is imperative to recognize its clinical heterogeneity. Indeed, individuals with schizophrenia show high interindividual variability in terms of symptomatic manifestation, response to treatment, course of illness and functional outcomes. There is also a multiplicity of risk factors that contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Moreover, accumulating evidence indicates that several dimensions of psychopathology and risk factors cross current diagnostic categorizations. Schizophrenia shares a number of similarities with MS, which is a demyelinating disease of the CNS. These similarities appear in the context of age of onset, geographical distribution, involvement of immune-inflammatory processes, neurocognitive impairment and various trajectories of illness course. This article provides a critical appraisal of diagnostic process in schizophrenia, taking into consideration advancements that have been made in the diagnosis and management of MS. Based on the comparison between the two disorders, key directions for studies that aim to improve diagnostic process in schizophrenia are formulated. All of them converge on the necessity to deconstruct the psychosis spectrum and adopt dimensional approaches with deep phenotyping to refine current diagnostic boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Błażej Misiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Jerzy Samochowiec
- Department of Psychiatry, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland
| | | | - Wolfgang Gaebel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- WHO Collaborating Centre on Quality Assurance and Empowerment in Mental Health, DEU-131, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Claudio L. A. Bassetti
- Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University Bern, Switzerland
- Interdisciplinary Sleep-Wake-Epilepsy-Center, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Andrew Chan
- Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University Bern, Switzerland
| | - Philip Gorwood
- Université Paris Cité, INSERM, U1266 (Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris), Paris, France
- CMME, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris, France
| | - Sergi Papiol
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics, University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Geert Dom
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Antwerp, B-2610Antwerp, Belgium
- Multiversum Psychiatric Hospital, B-2530Boechout, Belgium
| | - Umberto Volpe
- Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Neurosciences/DIMSC, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126Ancona, Italy
| | - Agata Szulc
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tamas Kurimay
- Department of Psychiatry, St. Janos Hospital, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Andre Decraene
- European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI), Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wisse
- Century House, Wargrave Road, Henley-on-Thames, OxfordshireRG9 2LT, UK
| | - Andrea Fiorillo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
| | - Peter Falkai
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Nussbaumstraße 7, 80336Munich, Germany
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Parsapoor (Parsa) M(M, Alam MR, Mihailidis A. Performance of machine learning algorithms for dementia assessment: impacts of language tasks, recording media, and modalities. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2023; 23:45. [PMID: 36869377 PMCID: PMC9985301 DOI: 10.1186/s12911-023-02122-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Automatic speech and language assessment methods (SLAMs) can help clinicians assess speech and language impairments associated with dementia in older adults. The basis of any automatic SLAMs is a machine learning (ML) classifier that is trained on participants' speech and language. However, language tasks, recording media, and modalities impact the performance of ML classifiers. Thus, this research has focused on evaluating the effects of the above-mentioned factors on the performance of ML classifiers that can be used for dementia assessment. METHODOLOGY Our methodology includes the following steps: (1) Collecting speech and language datasets from patients and healthy controls; (2) Using feature engineering methods which include feature extraction methods to extract linguistic and acoustic features and feature selection methods to select most informative features; (3) Training different ML classifiers; and (4) Evaluating the performance of ML classifiers to investigate the impacts of language tasks, recording media, and modalities on dementia assessment. RESULTS Our results show that (1) the ML classifiers trained with the picture description language task perform better than the classifiers trained with the story recall language task; (2) the data obtained from phone-based recordings improves the performance of ML classifiers compared to data obtained from web-based recordings; and (3) the ML classifiers trained with acoustic features perform better than the classifiers trained with linguistic features. CONCLUSION This research demonstrates that we can improve the performance of automatic SLAMs as dementia assessment methods if we: (1) Use the picture description task to obtain participants' speech; (2) Collect participants' voices via phone-based recordings; and (3) Train ML classifiers using only acoustic features. Our proposed methodology will help future researchers to investigate the impacts of different factors on the performance of ML classifiers for assessing dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Muhammad Raisul Alam
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- grid.494618.6Vector Institute, Toronto, Canada
| | - Alex Mihailidis
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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Wang Y, Zhu C. Thoughts on the construction of public health informatization for community health archives grass roots management system. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1160478. [PMID: 37124797 PMCID: PMC10140535 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1160478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
With the development of social economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people expect to receive high-level medical services, and the requirements for medical care are also getting higher and higher. However, there are still objective problems such as rising medical costs, difficulty in seeking medical treatment, uneven distribution of medical resources, low efficiency of medical services, and uneven medical quality. This paper first analyzes the significance of public health informatization construction, focuses on the elements of public health informatization construction, and expounds the status quo of health informatization construction and the existing problems in community health informatization. Then, this paper expounds the construction of public health informatization based on the grass-roots management system of community health records, and discusses the construction of a health information platform centered on the health records of community residents. Afterwards, this paper proposes and studies the functions of the community medical information archives management system from three aspects: the composition of the community medical information archives management system, the problems of system management, and the development requirements of the system, and proposes an algorithm based on a decision tree model to enhance public health informology. Finally, on the basis of experiments and investigations, Internet technology and decision tree model algorithms are introduced into the public health information system construction of the community health archives system to build a new public health information system, and the satisfaction rate can be increased by 23%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Wang
- School of International Finance and Law, East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), Shanghai, China
| | - Chaonan Zhu
- School of International Law, East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Chaonan Zhu,
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Chen ZS, Kulkarni P(P, Galatzer-Levy IR, Bigio B, Nasca C, Zhang Y. Modern views of machine learning for precision psychiatry. PATTERNS (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2022; 3:100602. [PMID: 36419447 PMCID: PMC9676543 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2022.100602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
In light of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)'s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), the advent of functional neuroimaging, novel technologies and methods provide new opportunities to develop precise and personalized prognosis and diagnosis of mental disorders. Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are playing an increasingly critical role in the new era of precision psychiatry. Combining ML/AI with neuromodulation technologies can potentially provide explainable solutions in clinical practice and effective therapeutic treatment. Advanced wearable and mobile technologies also call for the new role of ML/AI for digital phenotyping in mobile mental health. In this review, we provide a comprehensive review of ML methodologies and applications by combining neuroimaging, neuromodulation, and advanced mobile technologies in psychiatry practice. We further review the role of ML in molecular phenotyping and cross-species biomarker identification in precision psychiatry. We also discuss explainable AI (XAI) and neuromodulation in a closed human-in-the-loop manner and highlight the ML potential in multi-media information extraction and multi-modal data fusion. Finally, we discuss conceptual and practical challenges in precision psychiatry and highlight ML opportunities in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- The Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
| | | | - Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Meta Reality Lab, New York, NY, USA
| | - Benedetta Bigio
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Carla Nasca
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- The Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Yu Zhang
- Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
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Meyerhoff J, Kornfield R, Mohr DC, Reddy M. Meeting Young Adults' Social Support Needs across the Health Behavior Change Journey: Implications for Digital Mental Health Tools. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACM ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION 2022; 6:312. [PMID: 36387059 PMCID: PMC9662762 DOI: 10.1145/3555203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In pursuit of mental wellness, many find that behavioral change is necessary. This process can often be difficult but is facilitated by strong social support. This paper explores the role of social support across behavioral change journeys among young adults, a group at high risk for mental health challenges, but with the lowest rates of mental health treatment utilization. Given that digital mental health tools are effective for treating mental health conditions, they hold particular promise for bridging the treatment gap among young adults, many of whom, are not interested in - or cannot access - traditional mental healthcare. We recruited a sample of young adults with depression who were seeking information about their symptoms online to participate in an Asynchronous Remote Community (ARC) elicitation workshop. Participants detailed the changing nature of social interactions across their behavior change journeys. They noted that both directed and undirected support are necessary early in behavioral change and certain needs such as informational support are particularly pronounced, while healthy coping partnerships and accountability are more important later in the change process. We discuss the conceptual and design implications of our findings for the next generation of digital mental health tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonah Meyerhoff
- Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Rachel Kornfield
- Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - David C Mohr
- Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Madhu Reddy
- Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
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10
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A Framework for Supporting Well-being using the Character Computing Ontology - Anxiety and Sleep Quality during COVID-19. OPEN PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1515/psych-2022-0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting human behavior, increasing the demand for the cooperation between psychologists and computer scientists to develop technology solutions that can help people in order to promote well-being and behavior change. According to the conceptual Character-Behavior-Situation (CBS) triad of Character Computing, behavior is driven by an individual’s character (trait and state markers) and the situation. In previous work, a computational ontology for Character Computing (CCOnto) has been introduced. The ontology can be extended with domain-specific knowledge for developing applications for inferring certain human behaviors to be leveraged for different purposes. In this paper, we present a framework for developing applications for dealing with changes in well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework can be used by psychology domain experts and application developers. The proposed model allows the input of heuristic rules as well as data-based rule extraction for inferring behavior. In this paper, we present how CCOnto is extended with components of physical and mental well-being and how the framework uses the extended domain ontologies in applications for evaluating sleep habits, anxiety, and depression predisposition during the COVID-19 pandemic based on user-input data.
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11
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Boettcher N. Studies of Depression and Anxiety Using Reddit as a Data Source: Scoping Review. JMIR Ment Health 2021; 8:e29487. [PMID: 34842560 PMCID: PMC8663609 DOI: 10.2196/29487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The study of depression and anxiety using publicly available social media data is a research activity that has grown considerably over the past decade. The discussion platform Reddit has become a popular social media data source in this nascent area of study, in part because of the unique ways in which the platform is facilitative of research. To date, no work has been done to synthesize existing studies on depression and anxiety using Reddit. OBJECTIVE The objective of this review is to understand the scope and nature of research using Reddit as a primary data source for studying depression and anxiety. METHODS A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Scopus, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, and ACM academic databases were searched. Inclusion criteria were developed using the participants, concept, and context framework outlined by the Joanna Briggs Institute Scoping Review Methodology Group. Eligible studies featured an analytic focus on depression or anxiety and used naturalistic written expressions from Reddit users as a primary data source. RESULTS A total of 54 studies were included in the review. Tables and corresponding analyses delineate the key methodological features, including a comparatively larger focus on depression versus anxiety, an even split of original and premade data sets, a widespread analytic focus on classifying the mental health states of Reddit users, and practical implications that often recommend new methods of professionally delivered monitoring and outreach for Reddit users. CONCLUSIONS Studies of depression and anxiety using Reddit data are currently driven by a prevailing methodology that favors a technical, solution-based orientation. Researchers interested in advancing this research area will benefit from further consideration of conceptual issues surrounding the interpretation of Reddit data with the medical model of mental health. Further efforts are also needed to locate accountability and autonomy within practice implications, suggesting new forms of engagement with Reddit users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Boettcher
- Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Coghlan S, D’Alfonso S. Digital Phenotyping: an Epistemic and Methodological Analysis. PHILOSOPHY & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 34:1905-1928. [PMID: 34786325 PMCID: PMC8581123 DOI: 10.1007/s13347-021-00492-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Some claim that digital phenotyping will revolutionize understanding of human psychology and experience and significantly promote human wellbeing. This paper investigates the nature of digital phenotyping in relation to its alleged promise. Unlike most of the literature to date on philosophy and digital phenotyping, which has focused on its ethical aspects, this paper focuses on its epistemic and methodological aspects. The paper advances a tetra-taxonomy involving four scenario types in which knowledge may be acquired from human "digitypes" by digital phenotyping. These scenarios comprise two causal relations and a correlative and constitutive relation that can exist between information generated by digital systems/devices on the one hand and psychological or behavioral phenomena on the other. The paper describes several modes of inference involved in deriving knowledge within these scenarios. After this epistemic mapping, the paper analyzes the possible knowledge potential and limitations of digital phenotyping. It finds that digital phenotyping holds promise of delivering insight into conditions and states as well producing potentially new psychological categories. It also argues that care must be taken that digital phenotyping does not make unwarranted conclusions and is aware of potentially distorting effects in digital sensing and measurement. If digital phenotyping is to truly revolutionize knowledge of human life, it must deliver on a range of fronts, including making accurate forecasts and diagnoses of states and behaviors, providing causal explanations of these phenomena, and revealing important constituents of human conditions, psychology, and experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Coghlan
- School of Computing & Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Simon D’Alfonso
- School of Computing & Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Nguyen B, Kolappan S, Bhat V, Krishnan S. Clustering and Feature Analysis of Smartphone Data for Depression Monitoring. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2021; 2021:113-116. [PMID: 34891251 DOI: 10.1109/embc46164.2021.9629737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Modern advancements have allowed society to be at the most innovative stages of technology which involves the possibility of multimodal data collection. Dartmouth dataset is a rich dataset collected over 10 weeks from 60 participants. The dataset includes different types of data but this paper focuses on 10 different smartphone sensor data and a Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9 survey that monitors the severity of depression. This paper extracts key features from smartphone data to identify depression. A multi-view bi-clustering (MVBC) algorithm is applied to categorize homogeneous behaviour subgroups. MVBC takes multiple views of sensing data as input. The algorithm inputs three views: average, trend, and location views. MVBC categorizes the subjects to low, medium and high PHQ-9 scores. Real-world data collection may have fewer sensors, allowing for less features to be extracted. This creates a focus on prioritization of features. In this body of work, minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) is applied to the sensing features to prioritize the features that better distinguish the different groups. The resulting MVBC are compared to literature to support the categorized clusters. Decision Tree (DT) 10-fold cross validation shows that our method can classify individuals into the correct subgroups using a reduced number of features to achieve an overall accuracy of 94.7±1.62%. Achieving high accuracies with reduced features allows for focus on low power analysis and edge computing applications for long-term mental health monitoring using a smartphone.
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Butorac I, Carter A. The Coercive Potential of Digital Mental Health. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOETHICS : AJOB 2021; 21:28-30. [PMID: 34152911 DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2021.1926582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
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Gooding P, Kariotis T. Ethics and Law in Research on Algorithmic and Data-Driven Technology in Mental Health Care: Scoping Review. JMIR Ment Health 2021; 8:e24668. [PMID: 34110297 PMCID: PMC8262551 DOI: 10.2196/24668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Uncertainty surrounds the ethical and legal implications of algorithmic and data-driven technologies in the mental health context, including technologies characterized as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and other forms of automation. OBJECTIVE This study aims to survey empirical scholarly literature on the application of algorithmic and data-driven technologies in mental health initiatives to identify the legal and ethical issues that have been raised. METHODS We searched for peer-reviewed empirical studies on the application of algorithmic technologies in mental health care in the Scopus, Embase, and Association for Computing Machinery databases. A total of 1078 relevant peer-reviewed applied studies were identified, which were narrowed to 132 empirical research papers for review based on selection criteria. Conventional content analysis was undertaken to address our aims, and this was supplemented by a keyword-in-context analysis. RESULTS We grouped the findings into the following five categories of technology: social media (53/132, 40.1%), smartphones (37/132, 28%), sensing technology (20/132, 15.1%), chatbots (5/132, 3.8%), and miscellaneous (17/132, 12.9%). Most initiatives were directed toward detection and diagnosis. Most papers discussed privacy, mainly in terms of respecting the privacy of research participants. There was relatively little discussion of privacy in this context. A small number of studies discussed ethics directly (10/132, 7.6%) and indirectly (10/132, 7.6%). Legal issues were not substantively discussed in any studies, although some legal issues were discussed in passing (7/132, 5.3%), such as the rights of user subjects and privacy law compliance. CONCLUSIONS Ethical and legal issues tend to not be explicitly addressed in empirical studies on algorithmic and data-driven technologies in mental health initiatives. Scholars may have considered ethical or legal matters at the ethics committee or institutional review board stage. If so, this consideration seldom appears in published materials in applied research in any detail. The form itself of peer-reviewed papers that detail applied research in this field may well preclude a substantial focus on ethics and law. Regardless, we identified several concerns, including the near-complete lack of involvement of mental health service users, the scant consideration of algorithmic accountability, and the potential for overmedicalization and techno-solutionism. Most papers were published in the computer science field at the pilot or exploratory stages. Thus, these technologies could be appropriated into practice in rarely acknowledged ways, with serious legal and ethical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piers Gooding
- Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Mozilla Foundation, Mountain View, CA, United States
| | - Timothy Kariotis
- Melbourne School of Government, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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Dennis MJ. Towards a Theory of Digital Well-Being: Reimagining Online Life After Lockdown. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 2021; 27:32. [PMID: 34013496 PMCID: PMC8132735 DOI: 10.1007/s11948-021-00307-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Global lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have offered many people first-hand experience of how their daily online activities threaten their digital well-being. This article begins by critically evaluating the current approaches to digital well-being offered by ethicists of technology, NGOs, and social media corporations. My aim is to explain why digital well-being needs to be reimagined within a new conceptual paradigm. After this, I lay the foundations for such an alternative approach, one that shows how current digital well-being initiatives can be designed in more insightful ways. This new conceptual framework aims to transform how philosophers of technology think about this topic, as well as offering social media corporations practical ways to design their technologies in ways that will improve the digital well-being of users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Dennis
- Philosophy & Ethics Capacity Group, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
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17
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Skorburg JA, Yam J. Is There an App for That?: Ethical Issues in the Digital Mental Health Response to COVID-19. AJOB Neurosci 2021; 13:177-190. [PMID: 33989127 DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2021.1918284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Well before COVID-19, there was growing excitement about the potential of various digital technologies such as tele-health, smartphone apps, or AI chatbots to revolutionize mental healthcare. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread across the globe, clinicians warned of the mental illness epidemic within the coronavirus pandemic. Now, funding for digital mental health technologies is surging and many researchers are calling for widespread adoption to address the mental health sequelae of COVID-19. Reckoning with the ethical implications of these technologies is urgent because decisions made today will shape the future of mental health research and care for the foreseeable future. We contend that the most pressing ethical issues concern (1) the extent to which these technologies demonstrably improve mental health outcomes and (2) the likelihood that wide-scale adoption will exacerbate the existing health inequalities laid bare by the pandemic. We argue that the evidence for efficacy is weak and that the likelihood of increasing inequalities is high. First, we review recent trends in digital mental health. Next, we turn to the clinical literature to show that many technologies proposed as a response to COVID-19 are unlikely to improve outcomes. Then, we argue that even evidence-based technologies run the risk of increasing health disparities. We conclude by suggesting that policymakers should not allocate limited resources to the development of many digital mental health tools and should focus instead on evidence-based solutions to address mental health inequalities.
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