Use of Conversation and Acoustic Signals in Measuring Depression Severity
Completed
Conditions studied: Depression
In brief
The purpose of this study is to test a new monitoring technology that uses the sound of a depressed person's speech to assess the severity of depression symptoms. The Vocal Social Signals Platform (VSSP) is software that analyzes the non-verbal characteristics of a person's speech. This study will test this software to see if it could be a useful measurement tool for assessing depression symptoms. Participation in this study requires coming to the research headquarters twice over a three-month period. The first visit is to determine eligibility. Throughout the study, participants will be connected to a telephone system five times, on which they will answer questions about their depression symptoms. After answering questions, their voice will be recorded using a structured speech sample that the participant will read out loud. The participant will also give an unstructured speech sample, which will involve describing a typical day or the last movie s/he saw. The voice samples will be analyzed and compared to the results of the depression symptom questionnaires.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT00831935
- Run by
- Boston Medical Center
- People needed
- 89
- Starts
- 2009-01-01
- Expected to finish
- 2011-06-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2013-04-08
Who can join
Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Be > 18 years of age.
- Speak, understand and read conversational English.
- A clinical diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder in the past 2 weeks.
You may not qualify if…
- Not having access to a telephone at home or on the person (cell phone) or at work.
- Planning to leave Boston during the study period.
- Having a long history of smoking, which is defined as 1 pack per day for 10 years or more.
- Meeting the criteria for alcohol abuse.
- Having one of the following mental illnesses based on attached instruments: Social Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder (BD) or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
- Having a life threatening and/or chronic health condition such as organic brain disease, e.g., Alzheimers' Disease and other dementias, cancer, HIV or other autoimmune diseases, diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, etc.
- Having a physical condition, such as one of the following, that could affect the acoustic characteristics of speech or a condition that can alter vocal production by affecting the mouth, larynx, trachea, lungs, thorax, nose, nasal passages and sinuses, ears and hearing:
- Neurological events or diseases such as stroke, ALS, brain injury, brain tumors, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and multiple sclerosis
- Chronic allergic conditions such as allergic rhinitis
- Upper or lower respiratory track infections such as sinusitis
- GERD (acid reflux)
- Anatomic abnormalities such as deviated nasal septum
- Speech impairment, as determined by the research staff
- Any other permanent, chronic or intermittent conditions that affect the quality of speech
Where it is running
- Boston Medical Center — Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Boston University Medical Campus — Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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