Decreased Speech Comprehension and Increased Vocal Efforts Among Healthcare Providers Using N95 Mask

N95 masks are recommended for the healthcare providers (HCPs) taking care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019. However, the use of these masks hampers communication. We aimed to evaluate the effect of N95 masks on speech comprehension among listeners and vocal efforts (VEs) of the HCPs.

This prospective study involved 50 HCPs. We used a single observer with normal hearing to assess the difficulty in comprehension, while VE was estimated in HCPs. The speech reception threshold (SRT), speech discrimination score (SDS), and VEs were evaluated initially without using N95 mask and then repeated with HCPs wearing N95 mask.

The use of masks resulted in a statistically significant increase in mean SRT [4.25 (1.65) dB] and VE [2.6 (0.69)], with simultaneous decrease in mean SDS [19.2 (8.77)] (all p-values < 0.0001). Moreover, demographic parameters including age, sex, and profession were not associated with change in SRT, SDS, and VE (all p-values > 0.05).

Though use of N95 masks protects the HCPs against the viral infection, it results in decreased speech comprehension and increased VEs. Moreover, these issues are universal among the HCPs and are applicable to the general public as well.