Fundamental frequency related parameters in Brazilians with COVID-19

This study compares fundamental frequency (f_o) and fundamental frequency standard deviation (f_oSD) of COVID-19 patients with the same parameters in the speech of subjects without COVID-19, and verifies whether there is an effect of age and sex in the patient group. Both groups, subjects with and without COVID-19, are formed by Brazilian Portuguese speakers. Speech samples were obtained from 100 patients with mild to severe symptoms of COVID-19, and 100 healthy subjects. A single 31-syllable Portuguese sentence was used as the elicitation material for all subjects. The recordings were divided into four age groups. The acoustic measures were semi-automatically extracted and analyzed by a series of analyses of variance. Patients with COVID-19 present vocal differences in f_o-related parameters when compared to healthy subjects, that is, patient voices presented higher f_o and f_oSD with respect to control voices. In addition, for patient voices, there was an age and sex effect on f_o SD values. Vocal parameters of women and elderly subjects showed more marked differences in f_o-related parameters, indicating that patient voices are higher-pitched and have a higher variation of f_o SD. Consequently, f_o-related parameters may be tested as vocal biomarkers in the screening of respiratory insufficiency by voice analysis, in patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19.