Temporal Speech Parameters Indicate Early Cognitive Decline in Elderly Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

INTRODUCTION: The earliest signs of cognitive decline include deficits in temporal (time-based) speech characteristics. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are more prone to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The aim of this study was to compare the temporal speech characteristics of elderly (above 50 y) T2DM patients with age-matched nondiabetic subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 160 individuals were screened, 100 of whom were eligible (T2DM: n=51; nondiabetic: n=49). Participants were classified either as having healthy cognition (HC) or showing signs of MCI. Speech recordings were collected through a phone call. Based on automatic speech recognition, 15 temporal parameters were calculated. RESULTS: The HC with T2DM group showed significantly shorter utterance length, higher duration rate of silent pause and total pause, and higher average duration of silent pause and total pause compared with the HC without T2DM group. Regarding the MCI participants, parameters were similar between the T2DM and the nondiabetic subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal speech characteristics of T2DM patients showed early signs of altered cognitive functioning, whereas neuropsychological tests did not detect deterioration. This method is useful for identifying the T2DM patients most at risk for manifest MCI, and could serve as a remote cognitive screening tool.