The distinct speech and voice phenotypes among TCM constitution for adults: A cross-sectional study

<x>Abstract</x> <sec> <title>Objectives:</title> By investigating the distinct speech and voice phenotype among TCM constitution for adults, this study aims at providing a convenient and objective methodological reference for judging TCM constitution. </sec> <sec> <title>Methods:</title> Acoustic analysis and TCM constitution assessment were performed for all 620 participants using Praat software and the CCMQ, respectively. </sec> <sec> <title>Results:</title> For formant features, the speech duration of special constitution participants was shorter than that of neutral, phlegm-dampness, dampness-heat, Yin-deficiency, or Yang-deficiency participants when pronuncing the vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/. Compare to Yang-deficiency, Qi-deficiency participants had a shorter speech duration when pronucing /i/. For /u/, blood-stasis participants exhibited a lower <italic>F</italic>1 value than neutral participants. For vocal features, special constitution participants showed higher local jitter than neutral, dampness-heat, and Yang-deficiency participants (for /a/, /i/, and /u/). Higher absolute local jitter than neutral or dampness-heat participants. Compared with neutral or Yang-deficiency participants, special participants owned a higher local shimmer (dB). Special participants had a lower harmonicity autocorrelation than neutral, dampness-heat, or Yang-deficiency participants. </sec> <sec> <title>Conclusions:</title> Formant features may effectively differentiate special constitution from neutral, phlegm-dampness, dampness-heat, Yin-deficiency, or Yang-deficiency constitutions based on vowel duration measurements (/a/, /i/, /u/). For the vowel /u/, <italic>F</italic>1 values may help distinguish blood-stasis from neutral constitution. Vocal features appear particularly useful for distinguishing special constitution from neutral, dampness-heat, or Yang-deficiency constitution, with local jitter and harmonicity autocorrelation showing significant discriminatory power. </sec>