Background Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a promising tool in the management of psychiatric disorders and particularly depression. It allows for a real-time evaluation of symptoms and an earlier detection of relapse or treatment efficacy. The generalization of the smartphone in the modern world offers a new, large-scale support for EMA. Objective The main objective of this study was twofold: (1) to assess patients’ compliance with an EMA smartphone app defined by the number of EMAs completed, and (2) to estimate the external validity of the EMA using a correlation between self-esteem/guilt/mood variables and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) score. Methods Eleven patients at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France, were monitored for 28 days by means of a smartphone app. Every patient enrolled in the study had two types of assessment: (1) three outpatient consultations with a psychiatrist at three different time points (days 1, 15, and 28), and (2) real-time data collection using an EMA smartphone app with a single, fixed notification per day at 3 pm for 28 days. The results of the real-time data collected were reviewed during the three outpatient consultations by a psychiatrist using a dashboard that aggregated all of the patients’ data into a user-friendly format. Results Of the 11 patients in the study, 6 patients attended the 3 outpatient consultations with the psychiatrist and completed the HDRS at each consultation. We found a positive correlation between the HDRS score and the variables of self-esteem, guilt, and mood (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.57). Seven patients completed the daily EMAs for 28 days or longer, with an average response rate to the EMAs of 62.5% (175/280). Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation between the number of responses to EMAs and the duration of follow-up (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.63). Conclusions This preliminary study with a prolonged follow-up demonstrates significant patient compliance with the smartphone app. In addition, the self-assessments performed by patients seemed faithful to the standardized measurements performed by the psychiatrist. The results also suggest that for some patients it is more convenient to use the smartphone app than to attend outpatient consultations.

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a promising tool in the management of psychiatric disorders and particularly depression; it allows for a real-time evaluation of symptoms and an earlier detection of relapse or efficiency of the treatment associated. The generalization of the smartphone in modern societies also offers a new large-scale support for EMA. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility in terms of compliance as well as graphic rendering and user experience of an EMA with patients suffering from unipolar depression. Method: Eleven patients at La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital were followed during 28 days with the help of a smartphone application installed on the patient’s personal smartphones. The results of the real-time collected data were reviewed during three follow-up consultations, by a psychiatrist interacting with the patient, on a “dashboard” aggregating all the patient’s data in a user-friendly manner. Results: Seven patients out of eleven have followed the protocol for its total length of time. Two patients continue to fill in the questionnaires without showing for the consultation which suggests that EMA is easy to use with a good compliance. The global response rate to the questionnaires was 58% with an average follow-up duration of 21 days out of 28 days in total. In light of the results in terms of graphic rendering and patient’s satisfaction, we strongly believe that EMA should be the focus on follow-up and early intervention studies.