Sleep and Activity Patterns as Transdiagnostic Behavioral Biomarkers in Psychiatry: Longitudinal Observational Study...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Digital Health
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Psychiatric symptom rating scales rely on self-report, limiting monitoring and prediction of outcomes.
• Actigraphy offers objective, high-resolution behavioral data for symptom fluctuation assessment.
• Previous studies on actigraphy in psychiatry focused on narrow groups, hindering clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate correlations between actigraphy-derived sleep/activity features and psychiatric symptom severity in a transdiagnostic sample.
• To identify clinically relevant actigraphy features across various temporal resolutions.

Main Methods:

• Feasibility case series of 8 outpatients (ages 18-52) using wrist-based actigraphy for up to 5 months.
• Symptom severity assessed via self- and clinician-rated scales.
• Intraindividual and interindividual correlations analyzed across daily, weekly, monthly, and full-duration data.

Main Results:

• Later rise times correlated with higher weekly PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores.
• Increased light physical activity linked to lower weekly/monthly PHQ-9 scores.
• Increased sedentary activity associated with lower GAD-7 scores over the full study duration.

Conclusions:

• Actigraphy features like rise time and physical activity are potential transdiagnostic markers for psychiatric symptom burden.
• Consistent associations across temporal scales and diagnoses suggest utility for clinical monitoring.
• Further validation in larger cohorts and advanced analyses are needed.