Digital Voice Analysis as a Measure of Frailty and Distress

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland100 enrolled

Overview

This study evaluates if it is possible to identify quantitative parameters from audio signals to describe the changes in patient's state in relation to frailty and distress.

Frailty is a common clinical syndrome especially in older adults that carries an increased risk for poor health outcomes including falls, incident disability, hospitalization, and mortality. The early detection of frailty is of importance in many patient populations to predict treatment outcomes, identify patient needs and coordinate efficient and meaningful care. An electronic assessment of the degree of distress in patients, who are unable to report, would be important to be able to routinely and objectively identify suffering in these patients. Digital voice analysis (DVA) gathers speech samples from individuals via different kinds of recording devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.) and examines a large variety of specific acoustic parameters such as for example frequency and voice quality features. This study is to analyse the potential to evaluate distress and frailty through digital voice analysis. On the contrary to the existing studies, it is intended to record audio and clinical evaluation data from the same subject multiple times during several weeks to be able to analyse temporal changes. This will allow to not only perform inter-subject but as well intra-subject comparisons of changes in audio features with changes of the patient's wellbeing over time. To make the patient speak as freely and relaxed as possible, the patient will describe different images. Different features will be extracted from the audios and potential candidates for a larger patient study will be identified, if data quantity permits using machine learning algorithms. Therefore this study evaluates if it is feasible to gather digital voice samples for voice analyses from cancer patients alongside conventional assessments for frailty (G8 questionnaire and distress (Distress Thermometer) to conduct first, preliminary analyses for identification of potential correlates between voice features and frailty or distress and between changes over time.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

100

Conditions

Frailty Distress, Emotional

Interventions

Data acquisition: Speech acquisitionOTHER

Speech test with synchronized audio and video recording. The speaking exercises and the audio and video recording will be done using a tablet computer and an application developed in-house. Freely available images showing different scenes will be integrated and displayed on the tablet to be described by the patient. The goal is to have at least two and maximum four of them described with several sentences by each patient per session. Parameters will be extracted from the patient's audio data to estimate the changes in distress and frailty.

Data acquisition: G8 Screening toolDIAGNOSTIC_TEST

The G8 screening tool consists of seven items dealing with food intake, weight loss, mobility, neuropsychological problem, body mass index, prescription drug, and self-perception of health, from the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire and was developed specifically for elderly cancer patients. The total G-8 score lies between 0 and 17. A higher score indicates a better health status.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Active cancer or haemato-oncological malignancy * Adults (≥ 18 years) * Ability to understand, speak and read German language fluently * Ability to provide written consent * Sufficient or corrected vision to see the images * Sufficient auditory comprehension for participation in the study based on the therapist's clinical opinion * Ability to concentrate for 20-30 minutes based on the investigator's clinical opinion * Signed informed consent to the study Exclusion Criteria: * Aphonia, dysphonia or other obvious voice alterations of patient's voice * Life-expectancy shorter ≤ 14 days as judged by a physician or nurse via "surprise question" * Breathlessness whilst speaking * Cognitive impairment as judged by physician or Mini-Cog in the G8 screening tool * Severe physical, emotional or existential suffering because of which the enrollment and participation in the study would result in patient burden, as judged by the treating physicians and their multiprofessional team members

Locations (2)

Palliativzentrum Hildegard, Basel

Basel, Switzerland

RECRUITING

Kantonsspital Baselland, Klinik für Onkologie, Hämatologie und Immuntherapie

Liestal, Switzerland

RECRUITING

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change of mean fundamental frequency extracted from the patient's audio data

Change of mean fundamental frequency extracted from the patient's audio data to estimate the changes in distress and frailty.