Mental Health Monitoring via Wearables

A new study explores the use of wearable devices, specifically Fitbit, for monitoring the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research focuses on analyzing data collected from the devices to identify early signs of anxiety, depression, and stress.

StudentMEH Study Details

The dataset used, called Student Mental and Environmental Health (StudentMEH), was collected directly from students at a university institution. The analysis evaluated various data modalities provided by Fitbit, with a particular focus on physiological parameters such as heart rate and sleep patterns.

Results and Implications

The study's findings suggest that these physiological parameters can indeed be used for screening mental disorders. In particular, F1 scores as high as 0.79 were obtained for anxiety, 0.77 for stress, and 0.78 for depression. The research highlights the potential of wearable devices for continuous mental health monitoring and emphasizes the importance of identifying the best data aggregation levels and appropriate modalities for screening different mental ailments.