Movement patterns in women at risk for perinatal depression: use of a mood-monitoring mobile application in pregnancy

Objectives: To examine, using a smartphone application, whether mood is related to daily movement patterns in pregnant women at risk for perinatal depression. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six women with elevated depression symptoms (PHQ-9 a 5) in pregnancy used the application for 8 weeks. Mood was reported using application-administered surveys daily (2 questions) and weekly (PHQ-9 and GAD-7). The application measured daily mobility (distance travelled on foot) and travel radius. Generalized linear mixed-effects regression models estimated the association between mood and movement. Results: Women with milder depression symptoms had a larger daily radius of travel (2.7 miles) than women with more severe symptoms (1.9 miles), P = .04. There was no difference in mobility. A worsening of mood from the prior day was associated with a contracted radius of travel, as was being in the group with more severe symptoms. No significant relationships were found between anxiety and either mobility or radius. Discussion: We found that the association of mood with radius of travel was more pronounced than its association with mobility. Our study also demonstrated that a change in mood from the prior day was significantly associated with radius but not mood on the same day that mobility and radius were measured. Conclusion: This study lays the groundwork for future research on how smartphone mood-monitoring applications can combine actively and passively collected data to better understand the relationship between the symptoms of perinatal depression and physical activity that could lead to improved monitoring and novel interventions.