Journal article
The Role of Voice Acoustics in Depression Assessment: Findings From Bibliometric Analysis, Literature Review, and Meta-Analysis
Depression and anxiety, Vol.2026(1), 5592230
04/24/2026
DOI: 10.1155/da/5592230
PMID: 42038195
Abstract
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.
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.
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 (
test = 0.58;
-value 0.56).
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.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Role of Voice Acoustics in Depression Assessment: Findings From Bibliometric Analysis, Literature Review, and Meta-Analysis
- Creators
- Lady Catherine Cantor-Cutiva - East Tennessee State UniversityAndrés Carrillo-González - Corporación Universitaria Minuto de DiosAhmed M Yousef - Harvard UniversityMark Berardi - University of IowaEric J Hunter - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Depression and anxiety, Vol.2026(1), 5592230
- DOI
- 10.1155/da/5592230
- PMID
- 42038195
- NLM abbreviation
- Depress Anxiety
- ISSN
- 1520-6394
- eISSN
- 1520-6394
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Grant note
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: R01DC012315
The analysis protocols and techniques reported in this publication were partially supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01DC012315 (P.I. Eric J. Hunter). During the preparation of this work, the authors used ChatGPT-4o (OpenAI) at the intermediate editorial stage to assist with phrasing and to explore alternative wording options in order to improve the fluency and readability of the text.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/24/2026
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9985157531502771
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