Evaluating Digital Voice Analysis to Detect Frailty and Emotional Distress in Adults with Cancer

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating whether digital voice analysis can identify measurable changes in audio signals that reflect frailty and emotional distress in patients with cancer. Frailty, a common syndrome especially among older adults, increases risks such as falls, disability, hospitalization, and death. Detecting frailty and distress early is important for improving patient care and treatment outcomes. This study will gather voice recordings alongside conventional assessments to explore the potential relationship between voice features and patient wellbeing over time. Participants will use a tablet to describe images freely while their speech is recorded with synchronized audio and video. These recordings will be analyzed for various voice parameters like frequency, voice quality, and fluency. Alongside voice data, participants will complete the G8 questionnaire to assess frailty and the Distress Thermometer to measure psychological distress. The study includes two groups of cancer patients from a palliative care center and a mid-size cancer center, with multiple recording sessions over several weeks. Participants will be followed for up to 16 weeks, during which changes in specific voice features such as fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, voice strength, and speech duration will be tracked and compared to clinical assessments. The study aims to conduct detailed analyses of how voice characteristics vary with frailty and distress both between different patients and within the same patient over time. Data collection includes clinical evaluations and questionnaires, with researchers monitoring these changes to identify potential markers for future larger studies.

Digital Voice Analysis as a Measure of Frailty and Distress