VA Conducts DOD Funded Study with CompanionMX™ for Suicide Prevention in Active Military

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with funding from the Department of Defense, has inked a partnership with CompanionMx™, a digital health technology venture offering a platform to sense, understand, and prevent mental health episodes to launch a study entitled “Facilitating Assessment of At-Risk Sailors with Technology (FAAST).” This study will evaluate the efficacy of the Companion System™ based on a smartphone-enabled, upstream suicide prevention intervention in active duty personnel.

The Study

An evidence-based, mobile-first proactive approach to monitoring and interpreting behavioral patterns related to smartphone use and voice analysis. Through the active monitoring of voice analytics and passive monitoring of other smartphone metadata, the Companion technology produces both acoustic and behavioral digital biomarkers of core symptoms associated with mood and anxiety disorders. The digital biomarkers will be securely collected from Android-based smartphones and monitored daily by research clinicians via The Companion Dashboard to facilitate outreach and intervention as needed.

Goal

Carl D. Marci, MD and Chief Medical Officer of CompanionMX reports “The goal of the study is to use the Companion System to identify patterns of behavior related to distress, depression, post-traumatic stress and suicide-related thoughts among soldiers as they transition to civilian life.” He continued, “Outcomes from this study will be instrumental to informing possible future support for the transition from uniformed service to civilian life and by ensuring the right care, at the right level is delivered at the right time for improved outcomes.”

Behavioral Health Issues in Navy

Naval personnel experience disproportionate levels of anxiety, stress and suicidal ideation while deployed – impacting periods of post-deployment transition which are times of heightened risk for suicidality. The FAAST study aims to evaluate more than 950 active duty naval personnel in the post-deployment period. The study is in partnership with the University of Colorado School of Medicine.