[ad_1]
Wearable devices can sense people’s stress, opening up potential new interventions for people with drug addiction, according to a new study from Washington State University.
In an article published today, July 21, in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, a WSU research team found that wearable bracelets measure physiological responses to stress in real-time and real-world situations. , providing a potential method to help people avoid backing down. in old behaviors.
Stress is one of the most common reasons people with an alcohol use disorder, more commonly known as alcoholism, relapse and start drinking again, said Michael Cleveland, associate professor in the Department of Human Development. of the WSU and corresponding author of the study.
“We got measurements on these bracelets which have the same match to point out that previous surveys and lab research have found,” Cleveland said. “Participants weren’t strapped to a big machine in a lab – they were real results that provide important and timely information.
Study participants wore the bracelets all day and answered survey questions on their phones four times a day. The survey looked at emotions as well as cravings for alcohol and the number of alcoholic beverages consumed.
They could also press a button on the device when they felt the stress increasing.
“The survey results match very well the physiological data we got from the bracelets – enough to give us confidence that the devices are effective at measuring stress in real time,” Cleveland said.
It is this real-time aspect that could lead to significant improvements in helping people avoid relapses, as it enables further technological development by creating new interventions when needed.
“We’re working on a proposal to create a mobile app that would connect someone’s wrist to someone’s phone,” Cleveland said. “When the device on the wrist detects stress, it triggers the phone to intervene. “
The device can be programmed to turn on with notifications or launch an app that asks questions to help people get through a stressful situation. The team is also working on a way to link the devices to a music app, so they can automatically select a song to play when stress is detected.
“Just recognizing stress is one of the best ways to limit the impact of a stressful situation,” Cleveland said. “Many study respondents said they felt better just by pressing the button on the bracelet to rate their stress levels.”
Like modern smartwatches, the devices measure heart rate, but with greater reliability. Beyond smartwatch technologies, research devices also detect changes in sweat gland activity, body temperature, and skin conductance – all of the ways our bodies respond to stress.
The study was a partnership between a diverse team of specialists, including researchers from WSU’s Voiland College of Engineering for Computing and Data Processing and the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
“Everyone provides the necessary expertise that will hopefully help a lot of people reduce the risk of relapse,” Cleveland said. “No one could do it alone; you need computer scientists, stress experts, and people who know about drug and alcohol treatment.
The co-authors of the article are Hassan Ghasemzadeh, Parastoo Alinia, and Ramesh Kumar Sah from the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Michael McDonell and Sara Parent of Floyd College of Medicine; and Patricia Pendry from the Department of Human Development.
Funding for this study comes from the WSU Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program.
Media contact:
Source link
