Background Psychosis spectrum disorders are characterized by significant alterations in social functioning, which is a major factor for patient recovery. Despite its importance, objectively quantifying the complex day-to-day social behavior in real-life settings has rarely been attempted. Here, we conducted a pilot study with wearable sensors that passively and continuously register interactions with other participants. We hypothesized that the amount and pattern of social interaction was associated with the severity of psychotic symptoms. Study Design We recruited 7 patients with psychosis spectrum disorders and 18 team members from a Soteria-style ward. Each participant wore a radio frequency identification badge, sending and receiving signals from nearby badges, allowing passive quantification of social interactions. In addition, symptom severity was assessed weekly by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Study Results During an 11-week period, we identified 17 970 interactions among patients and staff. On average, patients spent 2.6 h per day interacting, capturing relevant aspects of daily social life. Relative daily interaction time, average interaction duration, and clustering coefficient, a measure of local network integration, were significantly associated with lower PANSS scores. Self-reported interaction time did not correlate with measured interaction time or with PANSS, indicating the importance of objective markers. Conclusions This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of passively recording social interaction of patients and staff at high resolution and for a long observation period in a real-life setting in a psychiatric department. We show links between quantified social interaction and psychopathology that may facilitate development and personalization of targeted treatments.

中文翻译：

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精神病谱系障碍患者的强化纵向社会感知：一项探索性试点研究

背景 精神病谱系障碍的特点是社会功能的显着改变，这是患者康复的主要因素。尽管它很重要，但很少有人尝试客观地量化现实生活中复杂的日常社会行为。在这里，我们使用可穿戴传感器进行了一项试点研究，这些传感器被动地持续记录与其他参与者的互动。我们假设社交互动的数量和模式与精神病症状的严重程度有关。研究设计 我们招募了 7 名患有精神病谱系障碍的患者和来自 Soteria 式病房的 18 名团队成员。每个参与者都佩戴射频识别徽章，从附近的徽章发送和接收信号，从而实现社交互动的被动量化。此外，每周通过阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS）评估症状严重程度。研究结果 在 11 周期间，我们确定了患者和工作人员之间的 17 970 次互动。患者平均每天花费 2.6 小时进行互动，捕捉日常社交生活的相关方面。相对每日交互时间、平均交互持续时间和聚类系数（衡量本地网络集成度的指标）与较低的 PANSS 分数显着相关。自我报告的互动时间与测量的互动时间或 PANSS 不相关，表明客观标记的重要性。结论 这项试点研究证明了在精神科的现实生活环境中以高分辨率被动记录患者和工作人员的社交互动并进行长时间观察的可行性。我们展示了量化的社会互动和精神病理学之间的联系，这可能有助于有针对性的治疗的开发和个性化。