JP7690168B2 - Health support device, health support system, and health support method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a health support device, a health support system, and a health support method.

Psychological or mental stress has a significant impact on people's health. It is known that continued stress not only leads to physical problems, but also increases the risk of developing mental illnesses (such as depression).

As a technique for measuring stress, for example, a method has been proposed to measure stress (depression) from changes in the concentration of certain amino acids in the blood (Patent Document 1). In addition, a subjective stress check method using a questionnaire has been proposed, created by the Stress Measurement Research Group of the Ministry of Labor's "Study Group on the Prevention of Work-Related Illnesses" (Non-Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 5856364

Simple Occupational Stress Questionnaire https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/roudouukijun/anzeneisei12/dl/stress-check_j.pdf

However, while the method described in Patent Document 1 can obtain objective data, it can only grasp the short-term situation because it is based on the stress state at the time the blood is taken, and continuous measurement requires continued blood sampling, which places a heavy burden on the user. Another issue is that the measurement results are prone to fluctuation due to many confounding factors such as external factors and physical condition. Furthermore, while Patent Document 2 allows for easy and low-cost evaluation, it is possible to manipulate the stress level by intentionally controlling the answers.

Therefore, providing advice for stress relief based on stress levels assessed using these technologies may have limited effectiveness or may have unintended negative effects on the user.

Therefore, this disclosure has been made in consideration of the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a health support device, a health support system, and a health support method that are capable of evaluating a user's stress state.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a health support device for supporting the health of a user, comprising: a subjective information acquisition unit that acquires subjective information in which the user answers questions; a biological information acquisition unit that acquires biological information regarding substances contained in structures mainly composed of proteins that occur on the body surface of the user; and an evaluation unit that evaluates the subjective stress that the user subjectively feels based on the subjective information, evaluates objective stress that indicates the objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluates the health state of the user according to the degree of discrepancy between the subjective stress and the objective stress.

Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the description of the embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to assess the mid- to long-term stress state appealingly and over time, accurately grasp the user's mid- to long-term stress state, and provide optimal advice that will lead to improved mental health.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a health support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a server device 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a server device 1 according to the embodiment. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in a user information storage unit 131 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in a subjective information storage unit 132 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in a life information storage unit 133 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in a biological information storage unit 134 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in an evaluation information storage unit 135 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of information stored in an advice information storage unit 137 according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an average value and a standard deviation used in the objective evaluation of a stress state performed by the evaluation unit 115 according to the embodiment, and an example of the evaluation. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a subjective stress state evaluation performed by the evaluation unit 115 according to the embodiment. 11 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation information presented to a user by an evaluation unit 115 according to the embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the server device 1 according to the embodiment.

The contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described below. One embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
A health support device that supports the health of a user,
a subjective information acquiring unit for acquiring subjective information of the user's answer to a question;
a biological information acquiring unit that acquires biological information regarding a substance contained in a structure mainly composed of protein that occurs on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation unit that evaluates a subjective stress that the user subjectively feels based on the subjective information, evaluates an objective stress that indicates an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluates a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support device comprising:
[Item 2]
the structure being hair or fur;
2. The health support device according to item 1,
[Item 3]
the biological information includes information regarding substances contained in the plurality of portions of the structure;
the portion is a portion of the hair or the hair that is a certain distance away from a portion of the hair or the hair that is close to the hair root;
3. The health support device according to item 2,
[Item 4]
the substance being a hormone;
4. The health support device according to any one of items 1 to 3,
[Item 5]
A lifestyle information storage unit that stores a history of lifestyle information including information related to the user's business, private life, etc.;
a stress cause estimation unit that estimates the life information from the time when the objective stress satisfied a predetermined condition as a cause of the user's stress;
5. A health support device according to any one of items 1 to 4, comprising:
[Item 6]
A health support system for supporting a user's health, comprising:
a subjective information acquisition function for acquiring subjective information on the user's answers to questions;
A biological information acquisition function for acquiring information about a substance contained in a protein-based structure generated on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation function for evaluating a subjective stress felt by the user subjectively based on the subjective information, evaluating an objective stress indicating an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluating a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support system comprising:
[Item 7]
A health support method for supporting a user's health, comprising:
The processor:
a subjective information acquisition step of acquiring subjective information of the user's answer to a question;
a biological information acquiring step of acquiring information about a substance contained in a protein-based structure occurring on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation step of evaluating a subjective stress felt by the user subjectively based on the subjective information, evaluating an objective stress indicating an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluating a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support method comprising:
<Details of the embodiment>

A preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that in this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant description.

==Overview==
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a health support system. As shown in Fig. 1, the health support system includes a server device 1, a user terminal 3, an organization terminal 4, a supporter terminal 5, a business operator terminal 6, and an expert terminal 7. The server device 1 is connected to the user terminal 3, organization terminal 4, supporter terminal 5, business operator terminal 6, and expert terminal 7 via a network 2. Although only one user terminal 3, organization terminal 4, supporter terminal 5, business operator terminal 6, and expert terminal 7 are shown, it goes without saying that there may be more than one.

==User Terminal 3==
The user terminal 3 is a computer operated by a user who is a target of health support. The user terminal 3 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, or the like, but is not limited thereto and may be other electronic devices. The user can access the server device 1, for example, by an application or a web browser executed on the user terminal 3.

==Organization Terminal 4==
The organization terminal 4 is a computer operated by a person in charge of the organization to which the user belongs. The organization terminal 4 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, or the like. The person in charge of the organization can access the server device 1, for example, by an application or a web browser executed on the organization terminal 4. If the user does not belong to an organization, the information input from the organization terminal 4 may be input by the user from the user terminal 3.

==Supporter Terminal 5==
The supporter terminal 5 is a computer operated by a supporter who analyzes subjective information and biological samples. The supporter terminal 5 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, etc. The supporter can access the server device 1 by, for example, an application or a web browser executed on the supporter terminal 5.

==Operator Terminal 6==
The business operator terminal 6 is a computer operated by a business operator who uses the functions of the server device 1 to return analysis results and advice to the user. The business operator terminal 6 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer. The business operator can access the server device 1, for example, by an application or a web browser executed on the business operator terminal 6. The supporter terminal 5 may also function as the business operator terminal 6.

==Expert Terminal 7==
The expert terminal 7 is a computer operated mainly by a medical expert, who gives advice to the user on symptom improvement methods, prevention methods, etc. The expert terminal 7 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, etc. The expert can access the server device 1, for example, by an application or a web browser executed on the expert terminal 7. The business operator terminal 6 may also function as the expert terminal 7.

The configuration of the server device 1 is described below.

2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server device 1 of this embodiment. The server device 1 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, a storage device 103, a communication interface 104, an input device 105, and an output device 106. The storage device 103 is, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory that stores various data and programs. The communication interface 104 is an interface for connecting to the network 2, and is, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone line network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or an RS232C connector for serial communication, etc. The input device 105 is, for example, a device that accepts data input through a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, etc. The output device 106 is, for example, a display, a printer, a speaker, etc. that outputs data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server device 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the server device 1 includes each processing unit of a user information acquisition unit 111, a subjective information acquisition unit 112, a lifestyle information acquisition unit 113, a biometric information acquisition unit 114, an evaluation unit 115, a stress cause estimation unit 116, and an advice transmission unit 117, and each storage unit of a user information storage unit 131, a subjective information storage unit 132, a lifestyle information storage unit 133, a biometric information storage unit 134, an evaluation information storage unit 135, a stress cause information storage unit 136, and an advice information storage unit 137.

The above-mentioned functional units are realized by the processor 101 of the server device 1 reading out a program stored in the storage device 103 into the memory 102 and executing it, and the above-mentioned storage units are realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 102 and storage device 103 of the server device 1.

Here, in this embodiment, the data configurations of the user information storage unit 131, the subjective information storage unit 132, the lifestyle information storage unit 133, the biometric information storage unit 134, the evaluation information storage unit 135, the stress cause information storage unit 136, and the advice information storage unit 137 are shown.

The user information storage unit 131 stores the user information received by the user information acquisition unit 111, an example of which is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the user information is composed of information such as name, age, sex, height, weight, occupation, and annual income, for example.

The subjective information storage unit 132 stores the subjective information received by the subjective information acquisition unit 112, an example of which is shown in FIG. 5. The subjective information includes, as an example, information on the user's subjective answers to questions. As shown in FIG. 5, the subjective information includes, as an example, information on questions included in the psychological measurement scale, answers to the questions, the date of answering, and the evaluation method set for each psychological measurement scale.

The psychometric scale is a method of measuring psychological phenomena, and by scoring answers to a number of questions, individual differences in psychological phenomena can be understood. Examples of the psychometric scale include, but are not limited to, mindset scales and stress coping inventories such as the Occupational Stress Questionnaire, the GHQ Mental Health Survey World Health Organization version, WHO SUBI, and the PHRF Stress Checklist Short Form.

The life information storage unit 133 stores the life information, an example of which is shown in FIG. 6, received by the life information acquisition unit 113 together with information on dates and times. The life information includes, for example, business information, private life information, and activity information. The business information includes information on the environment in which the user is working and the content of the work being done. As shown in FIG. 6, the business information includes, for example, information on the department to which the user belongs (including information on the time of transfer), department members (including information on the time of change), position (including information on the time of promotion, demotion, etc.), years of service, work content (including information on the time), date and time of work performed, results (including information on the time), evaluation (including information on the time). The private life information includes information on events that occurred in private life and things done. As shown in FIG. 6, the private life information includes, for example, information on events that occurred to the user, events that occurred to family members such as weddings and funerals, information on events that occurred in the local area, events that occurred in the community to which the user belongs, information on the number of events, the strength of the impression, the time of occurrence, etc. The activity information includes information on the activities performed by the user. As shown in FIG. 6, the activity information includes information such as the duration, content, and state of sleep, information on the content and intensity of exercise such as the number of steps, and information on the quality and quantity such as duration, information on the content and amount of food, and information obtained mainly from biosensors such as pulse waves and blood pressure.

The biometric information storage unit 134 stores the biometric information received by the biometric information acquisition unit 114, an example of which is shown in FIG. 7. The biometric information includes, as an example, information about components obtained by analyzing a sample acquired from the user. As shown in FIG. 7, the biometric information includes, as an example, information such as a user ID, a sample type, a sample acquisition date, an analysis site, contained components, component content, type of damage, and degree of damage. Note that the contained components and component content for each analysis site in an average person, and the standard deviation of the component content, and the contained components and component content and standard deviation of the component content for each analysis site for each type of damage and degree of damage may be stored together, or the biometric information acquisition unit 114 may calculate and store the average value and standard deviation from the data stored in the biometric information storage unit 134.

The sample is a protein-based structure that occurs on the surface of the user's body, and examples include, but are not limited to, hair, body hair, nails, and keratin.

Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, proteins, hormones, lipids, steroids, pigments, minerals, and nucleic acids.

Examples of such ingredients include, but are not limited to, cortisol, DHEA, testosterone, estradiol, oxytocin, and serotonin.

As an example, the analysis site may be defined in stages from the part closest to the skin when the sample was present on the body surface to the part farther away, but is not limited to this.

As an example, when the sample is hair, the analysis site may be defined by the distance from the hair root, but is not limited to this.

As an example, when the sample is hair, hair grows about 1 cm per month on average, so the analysis area may be determined based on the distance from the hair root area and how long it has been since the area was created, but is not limited to this.

The evaluation information storage unit 135 stores evaluation information, an example of which is shown in FIG. 8. The evaluation information is composed of information such as subjective reaction to stress (which may include the content and degree of depressed mood, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, feelings of uncertainty, etc.), physical reaction to stress (which may include the content and degree of autonomic nerve disharmony and physical reaction to fatigue), resistance to stress, stress reaction (such as the amount of hormones secreted when stressed), anti-stress reaction (such as the amount of hormones that work to alleviate stressful conditions), resilience (ability to recover), discrepancy between subjective reaction and physical reaction, personal values, average values, standard deviations, and changes in each value over time for each item mentioned above in this paragraph, as well as information such as type of stress, level of stress, mindset, and risk of insomnia.

The advice information storage unit 137 stores advice information, an example of which is shown in FIG. 9, transmitted by the advice transmission unit 117. The advice information mainly includes cause information and corresponding solution information. The cause information includes information on the cause of stress determined by the stress cause estimation unit 116, and the solution information stores advice for maintaining and improving health and recovering from symptoms. As shown in FIG. 9, the cause information includes, for example, information on excess working hours, lack of exercise, changes in the workplace environment, changes in the private life environment, and the like. The solution information includes, for example, information on lifestyle such as going to bed early and getting up early and moderate exercise, skills and mindsets that should be acquired such as communication and ways of thinking, the user's personality and characteristics that may cause problems, the environment to which the user belongs such as the workplace or school, and the need to seek diagnosis and judgment from a doctor or psychological counselor at a hospital, etc. In addition, in order to specify which solution to present depending on the user's attributes, each solution may be linked to the user's attribute information and stored.

The above is an explanation of the data configuration of server device 1.

Here, in this embodiment, the functions of the user information acquisition unit 111, the subjective information acquisition unit 112, the lifestyle information acquisition unit 113, the biometric information acquisition unit 114, the evaluation unit 115, the stress cause estimation unit 116, and the advice transmission unit 117 are described.

The user information acquisition unit 111 presents an input form for user information to the user terminal 3 via the network 2 and acquires information about the user. The communication in the transmission and reception may be either wired or wireless, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between the two parties is possible. Note that a person in charge of the organization to which the user belongs may directly input a part or all of the user information collected by interviewing or surveying the user to the server device 1, or may input the information from the organization terminal 4 via the network 2. Also, a business operator who conducts business using the server device 1 may directly input a part or all of the user information collected by interviewing or surveying the user to the server device 1, or may input the information from the business operator terminal 6 via the network 2.

The subjective information acquisition unit 112 presents an input form for subjective information to the user terminal 3 via the network 2 and acquires information on the subjective information. The input form is a form of the questions on the psychometric scale. The communication in the transmission and reception may be either wired or wireless, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between the users can be performed. The subjective information may be collected by a person in charge of the organization to which the user belongs, such as by interviewing the user or by questionnaires, and input directly to the server device 1, or may be input from the organization terminal 4 via the network 2. The subjective information may be collected by a supporter who runs a business using the server device 1, such as by interviewing the user or by questionnaires, and input directly to the server device 1, or may be input from the supporter terminal 5 via the network 2, or the subjective information acquisition unit 112 may convert the collected questionnaires, etc. into images and transmit the text information read by OCR technology, etc. to the server device 1.

The life information acquisition unit 113 acquires information related to life information from the user terminal 3 via the network 2. The communication in the transmission and reception may be either wired or wireless, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between the two terminals can be performed. The life information acquisition unit 113 may acquire the life information from information such as a calendar application used by the user, or from a calendar application or a business report tool such as a daily report, weekly report, or monthly report used by the organization to which the user belongs. If a calendar or a business report such as a daily report, weekly report, or monthly report is created on paper media, the life information acquisition unit 113 may image the scanned data of the paper media, read the text information using OCR technology, or the like, and transmit the image to the server device 1.

The biometric information acquisition unit 114 acquires information related to the biometric information from the supporter terminal 5 via the network 2. The communication in the sending and receiving may be either wired or wireless, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between the two parties is possible. The biometric information may be reported to the business by the supporter on paper or the like and input directly to the server device 1, or may be input from the business terminal 6 via the network 2. Alternatively, the biometric information acquisition unit 114 may read scanned data of the report or the like using OCR technology, and transmit the text information to the server device 1.

The evaluation unit 115 evaluates the user's health condition based on any one or more of the user information, the subjective information, the lifestyle information, and the biometric information, generates a screen to be presented to the user, and stores it in the evaluation information storage unit 135. The screen generated by the evaluation unit 115 may be presented to an organization, a supporter, or an expert.

The evaluation unit 115 evaluates the health condition of the user based on the biometric information, for example. The evaluation unit 115 evaluates the response to stress based on information on the amount of hormones included in the biometric information, for example. FIG. 10 shows an example of information on the amount of hormones included in the biometric information. Cortisol is a hormone secreted when stressed, and has the function of raising blood sugar levels and protecting the body from stress. For this reason, the amount of cortisol is examined to evaluate the degree of stress (stress response). DHEA is also secreted when stressed, but DHEA suppresses the function of cortisol and reduces the side effects of cortisol. For this reason, the amount of DHEA is examined to evaluate the degree to which the body is trying to return to its original state due to stress (anti-stress response). Furthermore, the balance between the stress response and the anti-stress response is evaluated by examining the ratio of the content of cortisol and DHEA. These evaluations may be performed for each analysis site. Although cortisol and DHEA are given as examples, stress responses and anti-stress responses may also be evaluated using other hormones or other substances known to be indicators of the relevant stress response or anti-stress response, and the same applies below.

As an example, the evaluation unit 115 compares the average value and standard deviation value of the cortisol and DHEA contents contained in hair samples of general people stored in each bioinformation storage unit 134 with the cortisol and DHEA contents obtained from the user's hair sample, and evaluates the stress response and the anti-stress response based on the magnitude of the difference from the average value. The evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the stress response and the anti-stress response based on whether the cortisol or DHEA content obtained from the user's sample is higher or lower by a predetermined amount compared to the average content for the previous period, or may evaluate the degree of the stress response and the anti-stress response based on the magnitude of the difference from the average value. Specifically, as an example, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the cortisol content obtained from the user sample as an average stress response (for example, evaluation value 3) if it is within the difference of the standard deviation from the average value, may evaluate it as a slightly high stress response (for example, evaluation value 4) if it is greater than the value of the standard deviation from the average value and equal to or less than the value of the standard deviation x 2, may evaluate it as a high stress response (for example, evaluation value 5) if it is greater than the value of the standard deviation x 2 from the average, may evaluate it as a slightly low stress response (for example, evaluation value 2) if it is less than the value of the standard deviation from the average value and equal to or more than the value of the standard deviation x (-2), may evaluate it as a low stress response (for example, evaluation value 1) if it is less than the value of the standard deviation x 2 from the average. Note that, although a five-level evaluation is used as an example, evaluation may be made in any hierarchy such as three levels or seven levels, and in that case, it is sufficient to set a prescribed value for how far it is from the average value. Note that the evaluation unit 115 may also evaluate the anti-stress response for DHEA based on a similar calculation.

Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 evaluates the balance between the stress response and the anti-stress response by examining the ratio of the cortisol and DHEA contents, and determines the objective stress state (objective stress value). The evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the response balance between the stress response and the anti-stress response based on whether the ratio of the cortisol or DHEA contents obtained from the user's sample is higher or lower by a predetermined amount compared to the ratio of the average value for the previous period, or may evaluate the degree of the response balance based on the magnitude of the difference from the average value. Specifically, as an example, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the ratio of the cortisol content to the DHEA content obtained from the user's sample (calculated as cortisol content/DHEA content) as being within the difference between the standard deviations from the ratio of the average values as being an average response balance (for example, an evaluation value of 3); if the ratio is greater than the standard deviation from the ratio of the average values and is equal to or less than the standard deviation x 2, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the stress response as being slightly higher (for example, an evaluation value of 4); if the ratio is greater than the standard deviation x 2 from the ratio of the average values, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the stress response as being slightly higher (for example, an evaluation value of 5); if the ratio is less than the standard deviation from the ratio of the average values and is equal to or greater than the standard deviation x (-2), the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the stress response as being slightly lower (for example, an evaluation value of 2); and if the ratio of the average values is less than the standard deviation x 2, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the stress response as being low (for example, an evaluation value of 1). Note that, although a five-point scale was used as an example, the scale may be divided into any number of levels, such as three or seven levels, in which case it is sufficient to set a standard value for how far each level is from the average value.

12 shows an example of a screen generated by the evaluation unit 115. In the graphs and the like shown in FIG. 12 as objective stress, as described above, the "stress response" indicates the amount of hormone secreted when stressed, and the "anti-stress response" indicates the amount of hormone that works to alleviate the stress state. The evaluation unit 115 compares the amounts of both and calculates the value of the reaction balance. A state in which the amounts of both are balanced is a desirable health state. For example, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate that a state in which the value of the anti-stress response is high compared to the value of the stress response is a state in which the subject is over-reacting to stress, and conversely, a state in which the value of the anti-stress response is low compared to the value of the stress response is a state in which the subject is under-reacting to stress. The evaluation unit 115 may also evaluate the degree of the reaction balance from the value of the reaction balance. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 may correct the values of the stress response and the anti-stress response based on information such as the content of the pain and the degree of pain contained in the bioinformation. For example, when the type and extent of damage include the effect of hair dyeing, the evaluation unit 115 may add the value of hormones that are likely to be lost from hair due to hair dyeing, or conversely, may subtract hormones that are likely to accumulate due to hair dyeing, but are not limited to these processes.

The evaluation unit 115 may also perform the above-mentioned evaluation for each analysis site. Since hair grows about 1 cm per month on average, evaluation may be performed every 1 cm from the part close to the hair root, that is, every month, and the evaluations may be arranged in chronological order to perform evaluation for several months, or evaluation may be performed in intervals of 0.5 cm, 0.25 cm, etc., and the length of the hair may be changed arbitrarily and evaluation may be performed for the corresponding period. At this time, the evaluation unit 115 may further evaluate the user's health condition, for example, based on the transition of the value of the "stress response" or "anti-stress response". For example, the evaluation unit 115 may place the axis of the value of the "stress response" on the Y axis and the time axis on the X axis, draw an approximate straight line, etc., and evaluate that if the slope is a negative value, there is a tendency for improvement, and if the slope is a positive value, there is a tendency for the situation to worsen. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 may set X=0 for December (such as the month before the sample acquisition date) that is not shown in FIG. 12, and evaluate whether the stress state has improved or worsened rapidly based on the value of the slope of the approximation line.

Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 may, for example, evaluate the user's health state based on the subjective information. The evaluation unit 115 may also evaluate the user's health state based on the user information and the subjective information. For example, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the user's psychological state based on information on answers to various psychological measurement scales included in the subjective information. The evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the user's psychological state based on an evaluation method defined for each psychological measurement scale (a method in which answers are scored, such as 1 point if the user answers a question with A, 2 points if the user answers with B, and the scores associated with answers may differ depending on gender, age, and even the user's work content, amount of exercise, amount of sleep, etc.), and may calculate a total value for each category of psychological state derived by the psychological measurement scale. The evaluation unit 115 may also evaluate the user's psychological state based on the difference, degree of difference, etc. between the total value obtained from the user's answers and the average value of the total value set in the psychological measurement scale.

11, the evaluation unit 115 determines a score for each answer based on the information of the answers to the questions of the psychometric scale stored in the subjective information storage unit 132 and the evaluation method (depending on the evaluation method of the psychometric scale, information such as gender and age included in the user information, job title and results included in the life information, family structure and number of contacts with local communities included in the private life information, amount of sleep and exercise, amount of food, and each of the contents of the activity information are also used). Furthermore, depending on the type of psychometric scale, some questions are classified into several categories, so the evaluation unit 115 may calculate a total score for each category. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 compares the score for the answer or the total score with a value determined by the evaluation method or a value taking into account the average value and standard deviation of the answers to the questions of each psychometric scale, and evaluates the score for the answer or the total score based on the magnitude of the difference. The evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the answer or category based on whether the score (or the total value for each category) obtained by scoring the user's answer based on the evaluation method is higher or lower by a predetermined numerical value compared to the set value or the average value, or may evaluate the degree of the score based on the magnitude of the difference from the set value or the average value. Specifically, the evaluation unit 115 may, for example, give an average evaluation (e.g., evaluation value 3) if the score (or the total value for each category) obtained from the user's answer is within the difference of a standard deviation from the determined value or the average value, a slightly higher evaluation (e.g., evaluation value 4) if it is greater than the determined value or the average value and equal to or less than 2 standard deviations, a high evaluation (e.g., evaluation value 5) if it is greater than the determined value or the average value and equal to or more than 2 standard deviations, a slightly lower evaluation (e.g., evaluation value 2) if it is less than the determined value or the average value and equal to or more than 2 standard deviations. If it is less than the determined value or the average value and equal to or more than 2 standard deviations, a low evaluation (e.g., evaluation value 1) if it is less than the determined value or the average value. Note that, although a 5-point evaluation is used as an example, evaluation may be divided into any hierarchy, such as 3 or 7 levels, and in that case, it is sufficient to set a prescribed value for how far it is from the average value.

Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 determines the subjective stress state (subjective stress value) by calculating the scores for the answers or the average of the total scores.

Figure 12 shows an example of a screen generated by the evaluation unit 115 after evaluation. In the graph or the like shown as subjective stress in Figure 12, the evaluation unit 115 calculates values for autonomic nervous system disharmony, fatigue/physical reaction, depressed mood/feelings of inadequacy, anxiety/uncertainty, etc. that can be derived from the answers to the psychometric scales, and shows the user's score together with the average value in a graph or the like. It goes without saying that other items may also be evaluated depending on the psychometric scale used.

Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 evaluates the user's state of stress by comparing the objective stress value with the subjective stress value. If the subjective stress value is higher than the objective stress value, the evaluation unit 115 determines that the subjective stress state is excessive. If the subjective stress value and the objective stress value are approximately the same, the evaluation unit 115 determines that the stress state is balanced. If the subjective stress value is lower than the objective stress value, the evaluation unit 115 determines that the objective stress state is excessive.

Figure 12 shows an example of a screen generated by the evaluation unit 115 after evaluation. As an example, Figure 12 shows an illustration of imbalance caused by excessive monitoring, with the left side showing objective stress and the right side showing subjective stress. In this case, the evaluation unit 115 determines that although the subjective stress is low, the physical reaction shows a high stress response, and therefore that the state is unbalanced.

Furthermore, as an example, the evaluation unit 115 may evaluate the health condition of the user based on the user information and the biometric information. For example, the evaluation unit 115 may correct information calculated as 1 cm per month from information on the measurement site included in the biometric information based on information on "hair growth rate" included in the user information.

The stress cause estimation unit 116 estimates the cause that is causing or has caused the stress state exhibited by the user based on any or some of the user information, the lifestyle information, and the evaluation information, and stores the cause in the stress cause information storage unit 136. The stress cause estimation unit 116 may statistically determine the cause from any or some of the user information, the lifestyle information, and the evaluation information, and the types of analysis may include correlation analysis, regression, classification, clustering, and feature importance calculation. Furthermore, the statistical models used may be implemented in a manner generally used in statistics, and detailed explanations will be omitted here.

When the evaluation unit 115 judges that the subjective stress value or the objective stress value is higher than the average value, the stress cause estimation unit 116 estimates that an event that occurred before the time when the sample was obtained or an event that can be determined to be different from normal at that time is the cause of stress. For example, the stress cause estimation unit 116 calculates the average value of a quantitatively expressible indicator (working hours, numerically expressed business results, evaluations, sleep hours, amount of exercise, etc.) included in the life information for a certain period of time in the past of the user, and estimates that the indicator is the cause of stress if there is a certain difference from the calculated value. For example, the stress cause estimation unit 116 calculates the user's average working hours for a certain period of time in the past, and estimates that long working hours are the cause of stress if working hours longer than that continue for a specified period of time such as three days, one week, or one month (which may also include intermittent working hours).

When the evaluation unit 115 determines that the subjective stress value or the objective stress value evaluated is higher than the average value, the stress cause estimation unit 116 may determine that the difference between the generally recommended time for a quantitatively expressible event included in the lifestyle information at a time point prior to the time point at which the sample was acquired is greater than a specified number, and estimate that the event is a cause of stress. For example, the stress cause estimation unit 116 reads out generally recommended values for work hours, sleep hours, amount of exercise, and the like (e.g., work hours of about 8 hours per day, sleep hours of about 6 to 8 hours, number of steps per day of 10,000, etc.) stored in the server device 1. The stress cause estimation unit 116 may compare, for example, the recommended work hours (8 hours per day) with the work hours included in the lifestyle information, and estimate that the work hours are a cause of stress if the difference is greater than a specified number.

For example, when the stress cause estimation unit 116 determines that the subjective stress value or the objective stress value evaluated by the evaluation unit 115 is higher than the average value, it may determine that an event that may generally be a cause of stress was included in the lifestyle information prior to the time the sample was acquired, and estimate that the event is the cause of stress. In this case, events that may generally be a cause of stress (e.g., moving to a department, changing jobs, quitting one's job, changing superiors, family misfortune, one's own illness, disaster, etc.) are stored in the server device 1. When the stress cause estimation unit 116 determines that the subjective stress value or the objective stress value evaluated by the evaluation unit 115 is higher than the average value, if the lifestyle information included, for example, information about moving to a department prior to the time the sample was acquired, it estimates that the moving to a department is the cause of stress.

The stress cause estimation unit 116 may estimate multiple events as the cause of stress. The stress cause estimation unit 116 may also narrow down the multiple estimated events that cause stress to a few events based on information on the time when the evaluation unit 115 judges that the objective stress value was high (determined based on differences in the analysis area). For example, the stress cause estimation unit 116 estimates that a transfer to a department and long working hours are the causes of stress based on the lifestyle information that shows a transfer to a department three months before the time of sample acquisition and that long working hours have continued for two months before the time of sample acquisition. Furthermore, when the evaluation unit 115 evaluates that the subjective stress value or the objective stress value two months before the time of sample acquisition is higher than the average value, the stress cause estimation unit 116 may estimate that long working hours, which are an event that occurred two months before, are the cause of stress.

The advice sending unit 117 sends information such as advice, including methods that are thought to lead to solving the cause of stress estimated by the stress cause estimation unit 116, to the user terminal 3 via the network 2. The communication in the sending and receiving may be either wired or wireless, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between the two devices is possible.

As an example, the advice sending unit 117 creates advice based on the lifestyle information and the evaluation information and sends it to the user terminal 3. For example, the advice sending unit 117 reads solution information corresponding to the cause of stress estimated by the stress cause estimation unit 116 from the advice information storage unit 137 and presents it to the user.

As an example, the advice sending unit 117 may present a solution according to the user attributes based on the user information. For example, when the stress cause estimation unit 116 determines that the cause is long working hours and further determines that the user has a family based on the information on the community situation included in the user information, the advice sending unit 117 may present to the user a solution such as "Go home at a time when you can communicate with your family," which is stored as advice for users who have families, from among the solutions stored in the advice information storage unit 137.

Furthermore, the advice sending unit 117 may determine the state of stress the user is experiencing and the cause of that state based on any or some of the user information, the lifestyle information, and the evaluation information, and may send information such as advice including the cause and a method thought to lead to its solution to the expert terminal 6 via the network 2. The expert may review, revise, and add to advice for the user based on this information, and send the reviewed, revised, and added advice to the user terminal 3.

Furthermore, the advice sending unit 117 may select a solution to present depending on the balance between the subjective stress value and the objective stress value. For example, when the objective stress value is higher than the subjective stress value, or conversely, when the subjective stress value is higher than the objective stress value, the advice sending unit 117 may send solution information corresponding to each phenomenon included in the advice information to the user terminal 3 via the network 2.

A typical process flow of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 13. First, the user information acquisition unit 111 accepts user information (1001). Next, the subjective information acquisition unit 112 accepts subjective information (1002). Furthermore, the lifestyle information acquisition unit 113 accepts lifestyle information (1003). Furthermore, the biometric information acquisition unit 114 accepts biometric information (1004). The evaluation unit 115 judges the user's answer included in the subjective information based on the evaluation method set for each psychological measurement scale, and evaluates the subjective stress state (1005). Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 evaluates the objective stress state from the content of components included in the biometric information (1006). Furthermore, the evaluation unit 115 evaluates the balance between the subjective stress state and the objective stress state (1007). The stress cause estimation unit 116 judges the cause of stress from the evaluation information and the lifestyle information (1008). The advice transmission unit 117 transmits advice to the user (1009).

Although the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been described in detail above with reference to the attached drawings, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present disclosure can conceive of various modified or revised examples within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

The device described in this specification may be realized as a single device, or may be realized by multiple devices (e.g., cloud servers) some or all of which are connected via a network. For example, each functional unit and each storage unit of the server device 1 may be realized by different servers connected to each other via a network.

The series of processes performed by the device described in this specification may be realized using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. A computer program for realizing each function of the server device 1 according to this embodiment may be created and implemented in a PC or the like. A computer-readable recording medium on which such a computer program is stored may also be provided. Examples of the recording medium include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a flash memory. The computer program may also be distributed, for example, via a network, without using a recording medium.

In addition, the processes described in this specification using flowchart diagrams do not necessarily have to be performed in the order shown. Some processing steps may be performed in parallel. Also, additional processing steps may be employed, and some processing steps may be omitted.

Furthermore, the effects described in this specification are merely descriptive or exemplary and are not limiting. In other words, the technology disclosed herein may achieve other effects that are apparent to a person skilled in the art from the description in this specification, in addition to or in place of the above effects.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Server device 2 Network 3 User terminal 4 Organization terminal 5 Supporter terminal 6 Business operator terminal 7 Expert terminal 101 Processor 102 Memory 103 Storage device 104 Communication interface 105 Input device 106 Output device 111 User information acquisition unit 112 Subjective information acquisition unit 113 Lifestyle information acquisition unit 114 Biological information acquisition unit 115 Evaluation unit 116 Stress cause estimation unit 117 Advice transmission unit 131 User information storage unit 132 Subjective information storage unit 133 Lifestyle information storage unit 134 Biological information storage unit 135 Evaluation information storage unit 136 Stress cause information storage unit 137 Advice information storage unit

Claims (7)

A health support device that supports the health of a user,
a subjective information acquiring unit for acquiring subjective information of the user's answer to a question;
a biological information acquiring unit that acquires biological information regarding a substance contained in a structure mainly composed of protein that occurs on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation unit that evaluates a subjective stress that the user subjectively feels based on the subjective information, evaluates an objective stress that indicates an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluates a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support device comprising: the structure being hair or fur;
The health support device according to claim 1 . the biological information includes information regarding substances contained in the plurality of portions of the structure;
the portion is a portion of the hair or the hair that is a certain distance away from a portion of the hair or the hair that is close to the hair root;
The health support device according to claim 2 . the substance being a hormone;
4. The health support device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second components are arranged in a first direction. A lifestyle information storage unit that stores a history of lifestyle information of the user;
a stress cause estimation unit that estimates the life information from the time when the objective stress satisfied a predetermined condition as a cause of the user's stress;
The health support device according to claim 1 , further comprising: A health support system for supporting a user's health, comprising:
a subjective information acquisition function for acquiring subjective information on the user's answers to questions;
A biological information acquisition function for acquiring biological information regarding a substance contained in a protein-based structure occurring on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation function for evaluating a subjective stress felt by the user subjectively based on the subjective information, evaluating an objective stress indicating an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluating a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support system comprising: A health support method for supporting a user's health, comprising:
The processor:
a subjective information acquisition step of acquiring subjective information of the user's answer to a question;
a biological information acquiring step of acquiring biological information regarding a substance contained in a structure mainly composed of protein that occurs on the body surface of the user;
an evaluation step of evaluating a subjective stress felt by the user subjectively based on the subjective information, evaluating an objective stress indicating an objective stress state of the user based on the biological information, and evaluating a health state of the user according to a degree of deviation between the subjective stress and the objective stress;
A health support method comprising:

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