Detecting early symptoms of mental health deterioration using handwriting duration parameters

INTRODUCTION: Recent years have witnessed a rapid rise in the incidence of mental health deterioration, such as depression and depressive symptoms. Therefore, early detection and measures of prevention have become important. This study aimed to develop a predictive method for assessing the incident risk of mental health deterioration by examining the associations between mental health and handwriting duration. METHODS: A cohort study over four years was performed with 200 university students who volunteered to participate in this study. Participants received the Uchida‐Kraepelin test every April and completed the 30‐item general health questionnaire to evaluate their mental health. From the stroke data obtained from the digital pen in the Uchida‐Kraepelin test, two kinds of intervals were extracted. Based on these interval ratios, participants were divided into two groups. We then examined the scores of the questionnaire between the high‐risk group and the low‐risk group in the first year of the study. In addition, multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether those in the high‐risk group in the first year still belonged to the high‐risk group in the fourth year. RESULTS: In the “Anxiety and Dysphoria scale” in the first year, the high‐risk group had a significantly higher score than the low‐risk group. Additionally, it was found that those in the high‐risk group in the first year tended to still be in the high‐risk group in the fourth year. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that the indicator that we developed can be used as a predictive factor for the incident risk of mental health deterioration.