Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42038195›Full record

SynthesisDepression and anxiety2026

The Role of Voice Acoustics in Depression Assessment: Findings From Bibliometric Analysis, Literature Review, and Meta-Analysis.

Lady Catherine Cantor-Cutiva, Andrés Carrillo-González, Ahmed M Yousef, Mark Berardi, Eric J Hunter

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Depression and anxiety, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Lady Catherine Cantor-CutivaDepartment of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA, etsu.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-4530-4345
Andrés Carrillo-GonzálezDepartment of Occupational Health and Safety, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios - UNIMINUTO, Bogotá, Colombia, uniminuto.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-8667-5807
Ahmed M YousefCenter for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, harvard.edu.
Mark BerardiDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, uiowa.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-0491-0952
Eric J HunterDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, uiowa.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-5571-464X

Funding

Protecting Teachers’ Voices: Investigating Risk Factors, Conducting Cost AnalysisR01DC012315 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · PI HUNTER, ERIC J · 2013 to 2025
$5.5M
NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC012315
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder that significantly impairs psychosocial functioning and quality of life. Recent advances in health sciences and digital technologies have highlighted the potential of voice acoustic parameters as objective indicators of health status, including depression. Methods: A bibliometric analysis, systematic literature review, and meta-analysis were conducted to consolidate and critically evaluate the current evidence regarding the relationship between voice acoustic parameters and depression. The search was performed in January 2024 across seven databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies were included if they involved participants with clinically significant depression, identified either through formal diagnostic criteria or through validated depression rating scales with established clinical thresholds and explicitly reported voice acoustic parameters. A total of 31 potential publications were identified and analyzed, and after full-text reading, 17 publications were included. Only six out of the 17 included studies reported sufficient numerical fundamental frequency (fo) data for meta-analysis; other parameters could not be synthesized quantitatively due to a lack of extractable values. Results: The bibliometric analysis suggests an evolution from studies identifying "valid" assessment tools towards the modeling of potential discriminatory factors. The mean difference (MD) suggests a decreased fo of 1.82 Hz among participants identified with depression compared to participants identified as the control group. However, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant ( Conclusions: Voice acoustic parameters seem to have the potential to be noninvasive, cost-effective biomarkers for measuring and monitoring depression symptomatology. Although there was a trend of decreased fo of 1.82 Hz among participants identified with depression compared to participants identified as the control group, the meta-analysis suggests a nonsignificant difference in average values.

Indexed as

BibliometricsDepressionDepressive DisorderSpeech AcousticsHumansdepressiondigital biomarkersmental healthspeech analysisvoice

Identifiers

PMID42038195
PMCPMC13109622

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.