Study on Correlation between Acoustic Profiles and Fatigue, 2010, Shin-woong et al.

No idea why this came up on a search but it made me laugh.........

Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of this study is to find out the correlation between the Vocal indicators and the 'Buzhongyiqi-Tang questionnaire' and the 'Chalder fatigue scale.'

Methods : This study examined the mean value of each factor in the 'Buzhongyiqi-Tang Questionnaire,' 'Chalder fatigue scale' and the different voice indicators conducted on 81 healthy adult participants in relation to the results of the /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ pronunciation test.

Results : There was significant correlation between the pronunciation of /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ vowels' F0 indexes and 'the Deficiency symptoms of Buzhongyiqi-Tang'. The results of the regression analysis showed the following significant findings for each pronouncing vowels: /i/ as a factor for 'the Deficiency symptoms of Buzhongyiqi-Tang'.; /a/ for 'the Consumptive fever of Buzhongyiqi-Tang'.; /i/ for 'the Vocal inflammation of Buzhongyiqi-Tang.; and /e/ as a factor of 'the Chadler physical fatigue'.

Conclusions : The study showed a negative correlation between the Fundamental Frequency and the mean value of the questionnaire, which could be understood as higher the fatigue level, increased level of vocal vibration and higher pitch tone compared to the less fatigued group. We expect future studies to conduct research on methods to diagnose other illnesses using the vocal indicators based on the correlation between the vocal index and illnesses prescribed under traditional oriental medicine.

http://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO201027742025493.pub?&lang=en

 

Wow. The future of evidence-based medicine is, well, this is it. Enjoy the house you built.

 

Heh, wouldn't even surprise me. Recently there was a study showing that people who live longer have fewer gait/balance issues, and of course the media buzz, which the researchers would probably not object to, was that people should work on their balance to live longer. Ironically, if people did that it would mostly make this evidence disappear, since you'd have people still in poor health but slightly better balance.

I facepalmed a lot that day. The whole issue of correlation vs. causation is probably the biggest problem medicine faces, leads to so much nonsense because of the way academia work and how high-quantity is rewarded at the expense of quality.