Copyright Futurity: Research News
A new study explores using remote-measurement devices like FitBits to help former soldiers readjust to civilian life. A newly discharged American military veteran struggles emotionally to quiet memories from the battlefield. He smokes cannabis, increasingly, to fall asleep at night and to get through the day. Whether receiving mental health treatment or not—and half of all trauma-exposed former soldiers do not, researchers say—the ex-soldiers may benefit from wearing a Fitbit or an Apple Watch around the clock in coordination with their health care provider. Data from such remote measurement devices could help doctors and therapists see the presence, and predict the exacerbation, of serious symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, according to the new study of dozens of US veterans over three months. In the study, a group of 74 recently demobilized veterans agreed to wear a device on their wrist 24/7 as well as self-report through a brief daily questionnaire. The goal was to observe how the use of real-time data collected passively (through remote measurement) and actively (via a survey) could help with routing trauma sufferers to behavioral health therapists and other health care specialists as needed, says Shaddy Saba, assistant professor at the NYU Silver School of Social Work and a coauthor of the study looking at PTSD and cannabis abuse among veterans. “Unfortunately, it is hard to predict when these problems will develop or escalate,” Saba says, explaining that the broad popularity of devices offers new promise for tracking patients. Veterans from the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan total over 2 million Americans. While estimates of PTSD incidence vary, a national survey in 2019-20 placed it at 9.4% of the military population, exceeding the 2016 estimate of 8.1%. PTSD is the most common condition that co-occurs with cannabis use disorder, according to research cited in this study. Saba came to the study naturally; his research bridges behavioral health, technology, and advanced analytic methods. He first became interested in working with veterans as a social worker at the Veterans Administration in Pittsburgh. At NYU Silver, he focuses on co-occurring problems among populations facing heightened perils, particularly veterans, using both theory-guided and data-driven methods to understand how conditions arise and interact. His research is informed, too, by over a decade of clinical practice in mental health and substance use treatment settings. For this study, Saba teamed with Daniel Leightley of Kings College London, a researcher on digital epidemiology and reservist in the UK armed forces, and Jordan Davis, Saba’s former doctoral advisor at University of Southern California who is now at RAND–among other experts. With Veterans Day approaching, Saba digs into the potential use of simple-to-use technologies to help ease veterans’ transition to post-service life:
