Conclusions  Electronic self-monitoring of mood in depression appears to be a valid measure of mood in contrast to self-monitoring of mood in mania .
Background Various paper-based mood charting instruments are used in the monitoring of symptoms in bipolar disorder .
During recent years an increasing number of electronic self-monitoring tools have been developed .
The objectives of this systematic review were 1 ) to evaluate the validity of electronic self-monitoring tools as a method of evaluating mood compared to clinical rating scales for depression and mania and 2 ) to investigate the effect of electronic self-monitoring tools on clinical ly relevant outcomes in bipolar disorder .
There are yet few studies on the effect of  electronic self-monitoring of mood  in bipolar disorder .
Saving time and money: a validation of the self ratings on the prospective NIMH life-chart method (NIMH-LCM)
Background Careful observation of the longitudinal course of bipolar disorders is pivotal to finding optimal treatments and improving outcome . A useful tool is the daily prospect i ve Life-Chart Method , developed by the National Institute of Mental Health . However , it remains unclear whether the patient version is as valid as the clinician version . Methods We compared the patient-rated version of the Lifechart ( LC-self ) with the Young-Mania-Rating Scale ( YMRS ) , Inventory of Depressive Symptoms – Clinician version ( IDS-C ) , and Clinical Global Impression – Bipolar version ( CGI-BP ) in 108 bipolar I and II patients who participated in the Naturalistic Follow-up Study ( NFS ) of the German centres of the Bipolar Collaborative Network ( BCN ; formerly Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network ) . For statistical evaluation , levels of severity of mood states on the Lifechart were transformed numerically and comparison with affective scales was performed using chi-square and t tests . For testing correlations Pearson´s coefficient was calculated . Results Ratings for depression of LC-self and total scores of IDS-C were found to be highly correlated ( Pearson coefficient r = −.718 ; p < .001 ) , whilst the correlation of ratings for mania with YMRS compared to LC-self were slightly less robust ( Pearson coefficient r = .491 ; p = .001 ) . These results were confirmed by good correlations between the CGI-BP IA ( mania ) , IB ( depression ) and IC ( overall mood state ) and the LC-self ratings ( Pearson coefficient r = .488 , r = .721 and r = .65 , respectively ; all p < .001 ) . Conclusions The LC-self shows a significant correlation and good concordance with st and ard cross sectional affective rating scales , suggesting that the LC-self is a valid and time and money saving alternative to the clinician-rated version which should be incorporated in future clinical research in bipolar disorder . Generalizability of the results is limited by the selection of highly motivated patients in specialized bipolar centres and by the open design of the study
Conclusions  Electronic self-monitoring of mood in depression appears to be a valid measure of mood in contrast to self-monitoring of mood in mania .
Background Various paper-based mood charting instruments are used in the monitoring of symptoms in bipolar disorder .
During recent years an increasing number of electronic self-monitoring tools have been developed .
The objectives of this systematic review were 1 ) to evaluate the validity of electronic self-monitoring tools as a method of evaluating mood compared to clinical rating scales for depression and mania and 2 ) to investigate the effect of electronic self-monitoring tools on clinical ly relevant outcomes in bipolar disorder .
There are yet few studies on the effect of  electronic self-monitoring of mood  in bipolar disorder .