CONNECT (Version 1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
CONNECT: using electronic devices (e.g. smartphones, smartwatches) to predict relapse of psychosis.
IRAS ID
322875
Contact name
Sandra Bucci
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
Psychosis is a severe mental health problem. Symptoms of psychosis include hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices that others cannot hear) and delusions (unusual, often troubling beliefs). People who experience psychosis often have times when their symptoms are relatively stable. At other times, their symptoms may increase and become much more problematic (a ‘relapse’). Helping people with psychosis to stay well (preventing relapses) is an important and time-consuming challenge for mental health services.
Smartphones and other digital technologies are now widespread. Digital technologies offer a solution to help tackle the overwhelming demand on services and to enable people with psychosis to access mental health support when they need it most (e.g. when relapsing). Research shows that people with psychosis are often willing to report their symptoms using a smartphone app. Healthcare apps can alert health professionals when someone needs extra support, but can be burdensome to use long-term. We want to make a system that collects data in a timely manner, reduces burden for both patients (by reducing the need to recall feelings) and staff and is more personalised. Recent research shows that information gathered routinely by individuals’ smartphones (e.g. activity levels) might help predict relapse in long-term conditions. We want to extend our work to develop an accurate and dynamic digital remote data collection system that predicts psychosis relapse.
We aim to recruit 1100 adults with psychosis from UK mental health services across Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, London, and Sussex. We will ask participants to use an app and wear a wrist-worn activity tracker for 12 months, complete questionnaires every 3 months and give feedback on how they found taking part in the study. By combining this information, we will look to identify patterns leading up to relapse and an acceptable sampling strategy for collecting these data.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0044
Date of REC Opinion
4 May 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion