Content-free Speech Analysis for Measurement of Mental Health

Development of a Digital Content-free Speech Analysis for the Measurement of Mental Health and Follow-up of Mental Disorders

Trial to prove the functionality and efficacy of a content-free speech analysis tool to detect problematic mental health status or phases of patients with pre known or unknown mental health disorders, focussed on affective disorders or neurodevelopmental disorders. The participants talk in free speech to the tool, this will be analyzed content-free and compared with psychological instruments to detect the mental status in conventional way.

Participants with and without pre known mental disorders will be recruited and analyzed with speech analysis and conventional psychological instruments, as primary measurement the SCL-90-Scale, as secondary instruments the PRIME-MD (explicit in use the PHQ-9 for depressive symptoms and the GAD-7 for anxiety), B5T and an ADHD-VAS-Score (t0). Then the investigators check the status of the participants later at t1 (4-6 weeks after t0) and t2 (4-6 weeks after t1).

The speech measuring instruments is the "VoiceSense" digital voice analysis tool, which enables the analysis of 200 specific speech parameters and the assessment of the findings through the use of psychometric instruments and questionnaires.

The hypothesis is that the data of the voicesense analysis tool compared to the psychological instruments provide a good match and the voicesense technique can be used as a predictive and course-description tool in mental illness.

Inclusion Criteria:

• being regular outpatient with mental disorder (verum group)
• being voluntary participant without mental disorder (control group)
• native german language speakers
• in good general health (absence of cancer, acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, severe cardiac arrhythmia, recent cerebrovascular incident, or severe atherosclerosis)

Exclusion Criteria:

• schizophrenia
• dementia
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• current or recent (less than 1 year) history of alcohol and/or drug abuse
• current or recent (less than 1 year) history of suicide attempts
• other significant comorbidities according to the Investigator's clinical assessment (for example, cancer, acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, severe cardiac arrhythmia, recent cerebrovascular incident, or severe atherosclerosis.