Breakthrough for therapy Swiss researchers discover a new identifying feature for depression

A person's gait can reveal depression. For example, depressed people walk more slowly than people without depression, as Swiss researchers showed in a gait study.

The University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (Ost) in St. Gallen announced on Tuesday that depression can be detected with 90 percent certainty by measuring gait. Specifically, the analysis showed that people with depression walk with slightly shorter steps and more slowly, explained Josef Jenewein, who was involved in the study, when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency.

In addition, their gait is more prone to disturbances, meaning that they fall out of rhythm more quickly if they have to perform another task at the same time.

60 patients suffering from depressive symptoms at the Hohenegg Private Clinic took part in the study. Their data was compared by researchers from Ost and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) with a control group consisting of 30 employees from the Department of Health at the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland. The results have not yet been published in a scientific journal, as they must first be reviewed by researchers who were not involved in the study.

Results helpful for therapy

The researchers hope to be able to use the results for therapeutic purposes in the future. According to Jenewein, the fact that people's gait changes when they are depressed shows that there is a strong connection between motor function and depression. This potential could be exploited to a greater extent in the future.

As a next step, the researchers now want to find out whether an improvement in depression after treatment at the Privatklinik Hohenegg is also reflected in a change in motor parameters in patients.