Perinatal depression application development

Abstract

Perinatal depression has been a significant problem in households around the world with nearly 70-80% of women indicated to suffer from some form of depressive symptoms within the perinatal period. Although a prominent problem, it was only officially recognized in 1994 and has yet to see effective measure taken against it. With a lack of current methods of recognizing early symptoms or realizing only too late, researchers and doctors alike have sought new methods of diagnosing patients, particularly through Digital Phenotyping, an in-situ method of observing patients using smartphones. Existing methods of recognizing symptoms through patient health questionnaires may also be improved to further assist with diagnosis. Often, these questionnaires are delivered via pen-and-paper during consultations with the doctors. In this project, a React-Native system titled Kara with a recommended implementation in phases has been proposed to tackle the above problems. Phase I which is documented in this report features a React Native application that is mainly focused and tested in the Android environment. It includes a user-based account system with a ‘chatbot’ presentation method of displaying questions and deliverance of e-Consultations. This method of displaying questions has also been made to be more engaging yet quick with many variations of displaying questions available. Additionally, a breathing exercise feature has been implemented to provide users with a platform to relieve stress and anxiety that follows a 4-7-8 (inhale-hold-exhale) second method for a total of 5 counts. This Phase serves as a basis and prototype for further creation and work to be done on the application in the future.