Depressive symptom screening in elderly by passive sensing data of smartphones or smartwatches: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The elderly is commonly susceptible to depression, the symptoms for which may overlap with natural aging or other illnesses, and therefore miss being captured by routine screening questionnaires. Passive sensing data have been promoted as a tool for depressive symptoms detection though there is still limited evidence on its usage in the elderly. Therefore, this study aims to review current knowledge on the use of passive sensing data via smartphones and smartwatches in depressive symptom screening for the elderly. METHOD: The search of literature was performed in PubMed, IEEE Xplore digital library, and PsycINFO. Literature investigating the use of passive sensing data to screen, monitor, and/or predict depressive symptoms in the elderly (aged 60 and above) via smartphones and/or wrist-worn wearables was included for initial screening. Studies in English from international journals published between January 2012 to September 2022 were included. The reviewed studies were further analyzed by a narrative analysis. RESULTS: The majority of 21 included studies were conducted in Western countries with a few in Asia and Australia. Most studies adopted a cohort study design (n = 12), followed by cross-sectional design (n = 7) and a case-control design (n = 2). The most popular passive sensing data was related to sleep and physical activity using an actigraphy. Sleep characteristics, such as prolonged wakefulness after sleep onset, along with lower levels of physical activity, exhibited a significant association with depression. However, cohort studies expressed concerns regarding data quality stemming from incomplete follow-up and potential confounding effects. CONCLUSION: Passive sensing data, such as sleep, and physical activity parameters should be promoted for depressive symptoms detection. However, the validity, reliability, feasibility, and privacy concerns still need further exploration.

The Association among Alcohol Consumption Patterns, Drink-Driving Behaviors, and the Harm from Alcohol-Related Road Traffic Injuries Due to the Drinking of Others in Thailand.

Thailand has one of the highest rates of traffic-related fatalities and alcohol-related road traffic injuries globally. Previous studies focused on alcohol consumption and road traffic injuries. However, no existing studies investigate the association between drink-driving behaviors and road traffic injuries due to the drinking of others. This study aims to explore any potential associations among alcohol drinking patterns, drink-driving behaviors, and the harm from alcohol-related road traffic injuries due to the drinking of others. The Thai Tobacco and Alcohol Use Household National Survey data in 2017 (n = 80,797) were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. This study found that current drinkers and binge drinkers were more likely to suffer from road traffic injuries due to others' drink-driving behavior, i.e., 1.50 times (95% CI: 1.49-1.51) and 2.31 times (95% CI: 2.30-2.33), respectively, compared with non-drinkers. In addition, we found that drink-driving behavior was associated with harm from road traffic injuries due to others' drink-driving behavior by 2.12 times (95% CI: 2.10-2.14) compared with the non-drinker group. This study calls for effective measures to reduce drink-driving behaviors to prevent road traffic injuries due to the drinking of others.

The effects of others' drinking on the harms to children in Thailand: Lessons from the WHO-ThaiHealth project.

BACKGROUND: Many knowledge gaps exist in the area of alcohol-related harms in children research such as the potential impact of other's drinking and their social demography. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effects of characteristics of household members and others' alcohol drinking on harms to children in Thailand. DATA AND METHODS: This study examined 952 parents caring for children and adolescents under 18 years of age, using the questionnaire (i.e., The Harm to Others from Drinking under the WHO/ThaiHealth International Collaboration Research Project). They were interviewed between September 2012 and March 2013. RESULTS: The study found that 15.89% of children and young people were affected by someone's drinking in at least one category of harms. People over 60 years of age were less likely to cause alcohol-related harm to children than those aged 18 to 29 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.19, 95% confidence interval [Cl]: 0.06-0.58). Households with a binge drinker or regular drinker (≥1 time/week) were more likely to have children at higher risk of suffering alcohol-related harm in comparison to households without alcohol drinker (AOR 4.75 and 1.92, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study found that children whose family members are young adult or consume alcohol (i.e., weekly drinker or binge drinker) were significantly adversely affected. The most common problems were domestic violence and verbal abuse. Most of the problems, affecting children, were caused mostly by their parents.

Alcohol's harm to others and subjective well-being: Cross-sectional studies in Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Previous studies have confirmed that the number of heavy drinkers in a household negatively correlates with the subjective well-being of individuals in the household. However, limited studies have investigated the experiences of alcohol's harm to others (HTO) and subjective well-being, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between experiences of HTO and subjective well-being in two selected low- and middle-income countries. DESIGN AND METHODS: We analysed population survey data on 1205 and 1491 individuals aged 18-64 years from Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Thailand, respectively. The respondents' experiences of HTO and their subjective well-being were measured using face-to-face interviews. The association between experiencing HTO and subjective well-being was investigated using Tobit regression models. RESULTS: A significant association between experiencing HTO and subjective well-being was found in Thailand, but not in Lao PDR. Those who had ever experienced HTO had a 2.77-point lower score of subjective well-being than those who had never experienced HTO (95% confidence interval -4.67, -0.88; P-value <0.05) in Thailand. In Lao PDR, the physical harm dimension showed the strongest association with subjective well-being compared to other types of harm, while in Thailand, financial harm was the dimension most strongly associated with the outcome. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant association between HTO and subjective well-being, particularly physical harm in Lao PDR and financial harm in Thailand. The study suggests that services to mitigate the impacts of HTO on well-being should focus on physical harm in Lao PDR and financial harm in Thailand.