Portland, Oregon (coin) – A research team at Oregon Health & Science University has received a $16 million grant to use machine learning to advance children’s mental health care, the university announced.
In an “emerging frontier” in mental health care, researchers are using machine learning, or artificial intelligence, data to better predict, diagnose and treat mental health issues in children and teens.
For over a decade, the university has been using machine learning to develop models that improve the accuracy of predicting mental illnesses such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.
According to Dr. Bonnie Nagel, professor of psychiatry in the OSHU School of Medicine and director of the Center for Mental Health Innovation, these models could provide insight into when symptoms begin, their severity and ideal treatments, leading to more effective mental health interventions and prevention efforts.
OHSU said the grant comes amid a global mental health crisis, as half of the world’s population will experience mental health issues at some point in their lives. 2023 Harvard University Research.
The mental health crisis is most severe among young people, who are experiencing an “unprecedented increase in mental health issues,” according to OHSU.
According to Oregon State University (OHSU), 50,000 children in Oregon are living with mental illness, many of whom have “significantly limited access to health care.”
Mental health problems often persist or increase as people develop and can lead to negative long-term outcomes, such as incarceration, unemployment, drug use, premature death from suicide or accidents, or physical health problems, Nagel said.
According to OHSU, data science could help solve the crisis.
“The reality is that children are suffering, and that suffering has only gotten worse over the past decade. We need to think outside the box and challenge the systems and approaches we’ve relied on in the past,” said Dr. Joel Nigg, professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and co-director of the Center for Mental Health Innovation. “Twenty years ago, we didn’t have the computing power or scientific knowledge about psychopathology that we have today. This study is a really exciting step forward that leverages scientific advances from the past 20 years.”
“The effects of these data-driven approaches and new clinical countermeasures will take time to become apparent,” Nigg added, “but they have the potential to have a significant impact: reducing health care costs, improving efficiency and access to care, and most importantly, saving lives.”
OHSU noted that as part of the grant, the National Institute of Mental Health will provide funding to further advance data-driven approaches to mental health for various populations, and that the university is one of the few institutions focusing on children and teens.
“The power of data”
Researchers will use predictive models to study a patient’s temperament, cognitive inattention, memory and environmental factors such as proximity to medical facilities and risk of exposure to pollution.
The researchers are collaborating with other institutions, including Seattle Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Purdue University, and aim to enroll 7,500 patients between the ages of 7 and 17 from a variety of backgrounds.
The team will analyze how often reliable predictions can be made, how often additional evaluations are needed, and the overall accuracy of the model. If effective, this new data-driven approach could be a cost-effective approach that health systems can use.
“We see this grant as critical to achieving the center’s mission of advancing scientific discoveries in mental health and rapidly translating them into real-world practice,” Nagel said. “Taking this next step in blending science with clinical care is incredibly exciting. It marks new ground in how we approach mental health.”
