Association of Daily Step Count With Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Using a...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mental Health Technology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Physical activity (PA) offers significant benefits for physical and mental health, particularly for major depressive disorder (MDD).
• Mobile devices like smartphones provide a scalable method for monitoring PA and its connection to depressive symptoms in real-world settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between passively recorded step counts from smartphones and current depressive symptoms.
• To compare these associations in individuals with and without a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD).
• To utilize a naturalistic, bring-your-own-device approach for data collection.

Main Methods:

• Employed the Remote Monitoring Application in Psychiatry (ReMAP) to gather passive step count data from participants' smartphones.
• Included 181 individuals with a lifetime MDD diagnosis and 195 healthy controls (HCs).
• Assessed current depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory and PA via daily/weekly step counts.

Main Results:

• Individuals with MDD showed significantly lower daily step counts and reduced diurnal activity variability compared to HCs.
• Higher daily step counts were associated with lower depression scores across all participants.
• Weekly step counts also predicted lower depressive symptoms, with MDD patients exhibiting less weekly activity variability.

Conclusions:

• Mobile devices are effective tools for monitoring PA in individuals with MDD, enabling personalized treatment and prevention strategies.
• Incorporating physical activity monitoring into the clinical management of depression is crucial.