Real-time stress detection based on artificial intelligence for people with an intellectual disability

Assistive Technology, vol. 36, pp. 232–240

Abstract

People with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) could have difficulty expressing their stress which may complicate timely responses from caregivers. The present study proposes an automatic stress detection system that can work in real-time. The system uses wearable sensors that record physiological signals in combination with machine learning to detect physiological changes related to stress. Four experiments were conducted to assess if the system could detect stress in people with and without ID. Three experiments were conducted with people without ID (n = 14, n = 18, and n = 48), and one observational study was done with people with ID (n = 12). To analyze if the system could detect stress, the performance of random, general, and personalized models was evaluated. The mixed ANOVA found a significant effect for model type, F(2, 134) = 116.50, p < .001. Additionally, the post-hoc t-tests found that the personalized model for the group with ID performed better than the random model, t(11) = 9.05, p < .001. The findings suggest that the personalized model can detect stress in people with and without ID. A larger-scale study is required to validate the system for people with ID.

Authors 7

1. Stefan de Vries corresponding
   Affiliation as printed

   Research and Development, Mentech Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

2. Fransje van Oost
   Affiliation as printed

   Research and Development, Mentech Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

3. Hanneke J. A. Smaling Aachen Department of Public Health and Primary Care

   Leiden University Medical Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

   University Network for the Care sector Zuid-Holland, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

4. Nanda de Knegt
   Affiliation as printed

   Prinsenstichting, Care center for people with intellectual disabilities, Purmerend, The Netherlands

5. Pierre J. M. Cluitmans

   Eindhoven University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

6. Reon Smits
   Affiliation as printed

   Research and Development, Mentech Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

7. Erwin R. Meinders
   Affiliation as printed

   Research and Development, Mentech Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands