Symptom Trajectories and Evolution of Mental Health Conditions Over the First Year Post-Injury: A Mobile Health Application

Our local research project is a study to track temporal patterns of everyday neurobehavioral symptoms (emotions, fatigue, cognitive challenges, substance use) that often develop into mental health conditions across the first year after TBI, and to determine patterns in these symptoms that predict a diagnosis of depression or anxiety at 1-year post-injury. Tracking is conducted via a mobile health platform developed specifically with and for persons with TBI, allowing for collection of data on emotional and behavioral symptoms in everyday life. Having a record of repeated assessments of emotional and behavioral functioning in their daily lives can help persons with TBI to track mental health and to seek help as needed. The use of mobile app technology, with ability to capture symptoms in a person’s day-to-day environment, in real time rather than retrospectively, could provide more accurate diagnosis based on frequency and duration of symptoms.