A Pilot Study of Mood Ratings Captured by Mobile Phone Versus Paper-and-Pencil Mood Charts in Bipolar Disorder.

Objective: Patient reported mood charts are frequently used in management of bipolar disorder. Although mood charts have recently been programmed in electronic devices such as mobile phones, little is known about the impact of the method of data capture on the psychometric properties and validity of these data.

Methods: In an ongoing pilot study, a sample of outpatients with bipolar disorder were randomized to either complete mood charts on a mobile phone or a standard paper-and-pencil mood chart as part of a 12 week-intervention (primary outcomes for the trial await study completion).