Apple and UCLA Launch Depression and Anxiety Study

[MacRumors]

Apple is teaming up with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to launch a three-year study to understand how sleep, physical activity, heart rate, and daily routine can impact anxiety and depression (via CNBC).

Kicking off this week, the study was co-designed by researchers at UCLA and Apple, and it will utilize the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Beddit sleep tracker that Apple owns and sells. UCLA and Apple hope the study will "revolutionize detection and treatment of depression."

Connecting quantifiable data like heart rate, sleep, and physical activity to anxiety and depression symptoms has the potential to allow health care providers to note warning signs and prevent the onset of depressive episodes, track treatments, and find depression causes. From UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Nelson Freimer, who is the study's principal investigator:

"This collaboration, which harnesses UCLA's deep research expertise and Apple's innovative technology, has the potential to transform behavioral health research and clinical care. Current approaches to treating depression rely almost entirely on the subjective recollections of depression sufferers. This is an important step for obtaining objective and precise measurements that guide both diagnosis and treatment."

"UCLA and Apple have designed this study so that all aspects of participation can be accomplished remotely. The pandemic has heightened anxiety and depression globally, and has increased awareness of the importance of behavioral health to overall wellbeing. At the same time, physical distancing requirements have limited in-person mental health assessment and treatment, leading to expanded use and acceptance of telehealth. These changes highlight the importance of incorporating technologies like those to be tested in this study into clinical research and eventually into practice."

The pilot phase of the study begins this week and will involve 150 participants recruited from UCLA Health patients. The main phases of the study will take place from 2021 through 2023 and will involve 3,000 participants drawn from UCLA Health patients and the UCLA student body, so this is not a study that can be undertaken using Apple's Health app.

Study participants will download a UCLA research app on their iPhones and will receive an Apple Watch and Beddit sleep monitor as part of the study.

Data from study participants will be kept safe with access limited to members of the UCLA research team. Data will be analyzed by Apple and UCLA after being coded and stripped of names and other contact information.

Article Link: Apple and UCLA Launch Depression and Anxiety Study

 

[Apple Freak]

Awesome! I love to see health studies like this.

 

[Todd Fisher]

I LOVE THIS! I wish it was already completed, but better late than never.... Looking forward to watching how this study works out over the coming years.

 

[ghanwani]

Apple users are so happy because of Apple's awesome products that they are neither depressed nor anxious. As a result, this study will probably not be very useful.

 

[citysnaps]

Excellent! Thats a major illness, often ignored or suppressed, that affects so many people.

 

[Onelifenofear]

Seems like a pretty good year to do it. 2020 is the worst.

Lets hope it ends on a high with a Vaccine and really awesome 3rd November.

 

[LessO2]

Perfect fit, since If you've ever watched UCLA Football lately, it'll be easy to source some depression or anxiety.

 

[chucker23n1]

It’s a bummer these studies are always so California-centric. I guess Apple has the best connections there, but you’d think geographical diversity would be scientifically useful.

 

[td2243]

2020 has been extremely hard for some people. Coming from someone that almost took his own life three weeks ago, this is encouraging.

 

[now i see it]

This study is making me feel anxious

 

[planteater]

It’s a bummer these studies are always so California-centric. I guess Apple has the best connections there, but you’d think geographical diversity would be scientifically useful.

That’s a good point. Environmental factors such as population density, crime rate, community involvement, and many more can affect ones propensity toward depression.

I suspect Apple are doing this to ultimately augment there devices to warn of actions that may lead to or heighten depression. They should get it right.

 

[WordsmithMR]

Seems like a pretty good year to do it. 2020 is the worst.

Lets hope it ends on a high with a Vaccine and really awesome 3rd November.

Honestly, I think it would be a great time to throw in a study regarding loneliness and social isolation. These have the same health and mental impacts as depression and anxiety... and no year would be greater than this year to tack that onto this sort of study.

 

[doboy]

I'm depressed there aren't any good deals on the current 11" iPad Pro, other than the student deal. Not to mention the long wait times

 

[Rocko99991]

They found number 1 reason is users can't afford latest iPhone.

 

[jjm3]

I wonder if a version of this might some day show up in the Apple Research app, especially once iOS 14 and watchOS 7 introduce sleep tracking capabilities that might provide some of what Beddit is providing the study above...

 

[its93rc]

Apple users are so happy because of Apple's awesome products that they are neither depressed nor anxious. As a result, this study will probably not be very useful.

I'm such a tech geek that for a while Apple events/new parts leaks were something I'd look forward to/kept me on this earth as a teen. September was it for me, haha.

 

[applepuree]

I would be a bit worried about applying to take part in such a study but I doubt anyone would care anyway.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Glad to see this kind of study. I hope the results will help treat those with depression.

 

[pioneer9k]

That's super awesome.

 

[Belle Pomme]

I like Apple's continued focus on health.

 

[cmwade77]

As usual, they are looking at the wrong things, yes over three years these could be important, but where are the studies that are tracking depression and anxiety as well as suicides, increased crime rates, child trafficking, etc. due to the lockdown policies in place in many parts of the country?

They would reveal these things are killing 10 times the number of people who are dying from COVID.

 

[SevenSeas]

I'm a fan of these continued research forays into personal health via personal tech.

 

[alien3dx]

They found number 1 reason is users can't afford latest iPhone.

developer in anxity mode upon how arm apple will destroy their income.

 

[matrix07]

True to form to Apple, they don’t just include a feature but makes a good use of it.

 

[Tozovac]

#1 cause of a poor night’s sleep? Apple iPad.
#2? iPhone.