The relation between passively collected data and PTSD: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Ningzhe Zhu1, Anjali Sarawgi2, Markus Bühner2,3
1Department of Psychology, LMU, Munich, Germany. ningzhe.zhu@lmu.de.
NPJ Digital Medicine
|July 5, 2025
Summary
Mobile sensing shows potential for assessing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specific features like sleep disturbances and activity levels correlate with PTSD symptoms, but more research is needed for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Mental Health
- Digital Health
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental health condition.
- Objective and unobtrusive assessment methods are needed for PTSD symptom monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze the association between mobile sensing features and PTSD symptoms.
- To identify specific mobile sensing data that correlate with PTSD severity.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies from the Database for Mobile Sensing Studies in Mental Healthcare (DAMOS).
- Inclusion criteria required correlations between mobile sensing data and validated PTSD symptom assessments.
- Seventeen studies with 1847 participants were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Only wake after sleep onset (r=0.14) and relative amplitude of physical activity (r=-0.10) were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms.
- Findings were consistent across various PTSD measurements, populations, demographics, and sensing durations.
- Mobile sensing offers objective and ecologically valid insights into PTSD.
Conclusions:
- Mobile sensing features show promise for PTSD assessment.
- Confirmatory studies are required to optimize sensor-based assessments for clinical implementation.
- Further research is needed to validate these findings in diverse populations.
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