Optimi prototype effectively predicts people at risk of depression

May 24 2012

The computing tool, developed by researchers at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, the Universitat Politècnica of València and the Universitat de València, along with professionals from the company everis, is able to predict if a person with a high-stress level is at risk of becoming depressed, based on the study of a series of physiological and psychological variables in which artificial intelligence techniques are used.  

The Optimi prototype is based on artificial neural networks, capable of predicting if a person is at risk of becoming depressed with a reliability of around 85% in the subjects studied. The initial hypothesis states that the central problem and beginning stages of long-term mental illnesses depend on the individual's capacity and ability to deal with the problems of stress that are being faced. During the first phase of the study, information from a sample of 95 Spanish, Swedish and Chinese volunteers has been analysed with the aim of combining all the collected data and characterising those at the risk of depression. In this analysis, behaviour patterns associated with stress, and the ability to overcome it, have been found.

In particular, the information in this proof-of-concept study includes physiological parameters (heart rate and its variations, level of activity carried out, sleep quality, the cortisone hormone - which is secreted at when stress levels are high, voice and asymmetry in the activity of the cerebral lobes) as well as psychological parameters (via different questions related to stress and state of mind in electronic diary form). The calibration of the predictive tool has been carried out using the models identified as being at risk of illness, provided by specialists in psychology from the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón.   

In the past two years, the project has also achieved the validation of sensor functioning in a domestic environment.  In this way, the correlation between the signs measured and the symptoms related to depression in the day-to-day life of the patients. The three-year, 3.5 € million project forms part of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union and is currently finishing the first stage of introduction. 

From this point, the second phase of the project starts, the final aim of which is to develop an online system to prevent depression and to learn how to deal with stress using preventative treatments based on Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CCBT) and the home-use sensored designed in Optimi. 

The second phase of the project, which will be carried out simultaneously in the United Kingdom and Spain, includes clinical trials necessary in order to check the efficiency of the preventative treatment using the IT tools. The Universitat Jaume I in Castellón and the Universitat de València have begun to recruit hundreds of unemployed subjects who will be the first to use the new computer program to prevent depression and to help people to deal with stress has been designed by the team of professionals from the Psychology and Technology Laboratory (Labsitec) and developed by Labhuman.