ABSTRACT
The INTERSPEECH 2021 Computational Paralinguistics Challenge addresses four different problems for the first time in a research competition under well-defined conditions: In the COVID-19 Cough and COVID-19 Speech Sub-Challenges, a binary classification on COVID-19 infection has to be made based on coughing sounds and speech;in the Escalation Sub-Challenge, a three-way assessment of the level of escalation in a dialogue is featured;and in the Primates Sub-Challenge, four species vs background need to be classified. We describe the Sub-Challenges, baseline feature extraction, and classifiers based on the 'usual' COMPARE and BoAW features as well as deep unsupervised representation learning using the AUDEEP toolkit, and deep feature extraction from pre-trained CNNs using the DEEP SPECTRUM toolkit;in addition, we add deep end-to-end sequential modelling, and partially linguistic analysis.
ABSTRACT
Background/Significance: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is now the leading indication for liver transplantation (LT). Disease burden, as well as hospitalizations, have risen during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatments are underutilized in patients with ALD, which is an important focus for quality improvement at LT centers. Our aim was to describe current communication practices surrounding AUD care for hospitalized adults with ALD at a large-volume single LT center without integrated specialty addiction services. Methods: We performed semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals providing care to hospitalized patients on an inpatient LT service from April to June 2021 using a videoconferencing platform. Interview guides focused on current processes for discussing and connecting hospitalized patients to AUD treatment;these were pilot-tested prior to use. Audio-files were professionally transcribed and imported to NVivo 12 (QSR International). Two qualitative researchers developed a codebook corresponding to 4 major domains of AUD care (discussing AUD, pharmacotherapy, behavioral therapy, and referrals to specialty addiction services) and assigned codes to all transcripts, with regular meetings to resolve discrepancies. A combination of inductive and deductive approaches was used to generate non-overlapping themes. Results: We interviewed 17 providers. Six main themes were generated (Table 1). When discussing AUD, most providers, other than social workers, rarely assessed patients' insight and motivations for drinking. Most providers were uncomfortable with the topic and encouraged behavior change by promoting guilt and fear of the consequences of continued alcohol use. Discussions about pharmacotherapy were rare and limited to few providers offering baclofen. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was offered as standard form of non-pharmacologic therapy, but alternative options were rarely presented. Discussions about referrals to specialty addiction services were emphasized most consistently to post-LT patients only;in general, providers expressed it was the patient's responsibility to set up appointments. Conclusions: Communication about AUD from the LT team was rare and focused on narrow topics, including negative consequences of drinking, AA participation, and importance to self-navigate specialty addiction referrals. Opportunities for improving communication include framing and exploring addiction in less stigmatizing ways, discussing the full range of evidence-based pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for AUD, and providing more direction for setting up specialty addiction referrals. These factors, including advocating for reduced insurance-related barriers for specialty addiction services, should be considered by LT centers when performing needs assessments for improving AUD care. (Table Presented) Table 1: Themes and Quotes from Providers Regarding Current Practices Surrounding AUD