Mobile devices for the remote acquisition of physiological and behavioral biomarkers in psychiatric clinical research.
Psychiatric disorders are linked to a variety of biological, psychological, and contextual causes and consequences. Laboratory studies have elucidated the importance of several key physiological and behavioral biomarkers in the study of psychiatric disorders, but much less is known about the role of these biomarkers in naturalistic settings. These gaps are largely driven by methodological barriers to assessing biomarker data rapidly, reliably, and frequently outside the clinic or laboratory. Mobile health (mHealth) tools offer new opportunities to study relevant biomarkers in concert with other types of data (e.g., self-reports, global positioning system data). This review provides an overview on the state of this emerging field and describes examples from the literature where mHealth tools have been used to measure a wide array of biomarkers in the context of psychiatric functioning (e.g., psychological stress, anxiety, autism, substance use). We also outline advantages and special considerations for incorporating mHealth tools for remote biomarker measurement into studies of psychiatric illness and treatment and identify several specific opportunities for expanding this promising methodology. Integrating mHealth tools into this area may dramatically improve psychiatric science and facilitate highly personalized clinical care of psychiatric disorders.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA. Electronic address: zwadams@iu.edu.
Zachary
Z
W Adams
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC, USA.
Erin A
EA
McClure
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC, USA.
Kevin M
KM
Gray
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC, USA.
Carla Kmett
CK
Danielson
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, Charleston, SC, USA; Technology Applications Center for Healthful Lifestyles, College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, 99 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC, USA.
Frank A
FA
Treiber
Technology Applications Center for Healthful Lifestyles, College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, 99 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC, USA; Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, 109 Bee Street, Charleston, SC, USA.
Kenneth J
KJ
Ruggiero
D001519:Behavior; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
D015415:Biomarkers
Biomarkers; Biosensors; Clinical research; Ecological momentary assessment; Mobile health; Technology