Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: evaluation of the predictive power of a voice recognition protocol and its recognition protocol and its correlation with standardized scales.

• Grant number: 24/00159-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Ary Gadelha de Alencar Araripe Neto
• Grantee: Stefannye dos Santos
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03209-7 - Embodied cognition: researching a new paradigm to understand Schizophrenia and the relationship between brain and body, AP.PNGP.PI

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder with a heterogeneous presentation that affects more than 23 million people worldwide. The literature accepts the division of schizophrenia symptoms into five dimensions: positive, negative, disorganized, depressive, and hostile/agitated (Higuchi et al., 2014). This study will focus specifically on the negative symptoms of the disease, the main predictors of functional impairment, and the symptoms that respond least to current antipsychotics (Shamsi et al., 2011). Despite the variety of existing instruments for assessing negative symptoms, this is still done using scales that depend on the subjectivity of the interviewer and the information provided by the patient. One of the perspectives for improving access to negative symptoms is the use of voice recognition protocols, but there are still doubts as to their validity and how the measures extracted from speech would relate to the sub-dimensions of negative symptoms (Haguiara et al., 2021). A previous study identified an association between negative symptoms and greater frequency and duration of pauses in speech in individuals at risk of psychosis (Stanislawski et al., 2021). However, no standardized instrument was used to assess the subdomains of negative symptoms or a sample of patients with schizophrenia. The overall aim of the study is to verify the association between pauses in the recorded voice register and the total score of negative symptoms. As a sample of patients with schizophrenia. The general objective of the study was to verify the association between pauses in the recorded voice record and the total score of negative symptoms. As a specific objective, we aim to verify the association of speech pauses in the voice recording with each of the five subdomains of negative symptoms and measures of graph connectivity. The study will evaluate 80 patients in their first psychotic episode who will have their responses recorded, transcribed and the pauses analyzed using software (PRAAT). Negative symptoms will be assessed using the scale considered the gold standard for assessing negative symptoms and its 5 subdomains (BNSS) and the most commonly used scale for assessing negative symptoms (PANSS). It is expected that the number and duration of pauses in speech will be positively associated with a higher total score of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.