Impact of age and clinical factors on the feasibility of mobile digital monitoring in people at risk of suicide

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the risk of suicidal outcomes is challenging, particularly in older people. Smartphone-based digital phenotyping may help to monitor suicide risk through ecological momentary assessment (EMA) applications. In this real-world study, we investigated if age and other clinical factors were associated with participation in EMA at baseline, and with retention in EMA monitoring among patients at risk of suicide. METHODS: Participation in EMA was determined by quantifying the installation of the MEmind mobile application in individuals involved in the SmartCrisis 1.0 and 2.0 studies. The patients were followed-up over a 6-month period. RESULTS: N = 512 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 387 installed the MEmind application on their smartphone. While age as a continuous variable was not associated with using EMA at baseline, being aged older than 50 and being engaged in an intimate relationship were independently associated with longer participation in EMA (OR 2.070, 95%CI [1.054-4.066], and OR 2.103, 95%CI [1.076-4.110], respectively). In an exploratory survival analysis, we found that EMA retention increased with age (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Feasibility of EMA seems warranted in older people at risk of suicide. Clinicians should be encouraged to offer EMA monitoring to older adults, as they commonly face limitations in their access to healthcare facilities.

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Publication Details

Journal
PLoS ONE
Published
2026-04-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346772
Primary Topic
Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Impact of age and clinical factors on the feasibility of mobile digital monitoring in people at risk of suicide

Ismaël Conejero, Antonio Artés-Rodrı́guez, Jorge López‐Castromán, Lucía Albarracín-García et al.
PLoS ONE
Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
article

Impact of age and clinical factors on the feasibility of mobile digital monitoring in people at risk of suicide

Ismaël Conejero, Antonio Artés-Rodrı́guez, Jorge López‐Castromán, Lucía Albarracín-García, Phillippe Courtet, Alejandro Porras-Segovia, Enrique Baca-Garcia, María Luisa Barrigón, Ana María de Granda-Beltrán, Memind Group
article en

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the risk of suicidal outcomes is challenging, particularly in older people. Smartphone-based digital phenotyping may help to monitor suicide risk through ecological momentary assessment (EMA) applications. In this real-world study, we investigated if age and other clinical factors were associated with participation in EMA at baseline, and with retention in EMA monitoring among patients at risk of suicide. METHODS: Participation in EMA was determined by quantifying the installation of the MEmind mobile application in individuals involved in the SmartCrisis 1.0 and 2.0 studies. The patients were followed-up over a 6-month period. RESULTS: N = 512 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 387 installed the MEmind application on their smartphone. While age as a continuous variable was not associated with using EMA at baseline, being aged older than 50 and being engaged in an intimate relationship were independently associated with longer participation in EMA (OR 2.070, 95%CI [1.054-4.066], and OR 2.103, 95%CI [1.076-4.110], respectively). In an exploratory survival analysis, we found that EMA retention increased with age (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Feasibility of EMA seems warranted in older people at risk of suicide. Clinicians should be encouraged to offer EMA monitoring to older adults, as they commonly face limitations in their access to healthcare facilities.

PLoS ONEVol. 21(4)
Universidade da Coruña (ES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Inserm (FR), Université de Montpellier (FR), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (ES), Catholic University of the Maule (CL), Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (ES), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier (FR), Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos (ES), Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz (ES), Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (FR), Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor (ES), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (ES), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES), Université de Nîmes (FR)
Fundació la Marató de TV3, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Université de Montpellier, Servier, H. Lundbeck A/S, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Cilag
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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