[Impact of face masks on speech intelligibility of normal hearing children]
Thomas Taxacher1, Martin Rupp1, Christof Pauli1
1ENT, Kufstein Regional Hospital, Kufstein, Austria.
Objectives:
Wearing a face mask is a simple way to slow the virus transmission during the current Covid-19-pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a face mask, worn by the speaker, on the speech intelligibility of normal hearing children and adolescents.
Design:
Using the Freiburg monosyllabic test for sound field audiometry in silence and with background noise (+25 dB speech-to-noise-ratio (SNR)), this study tested the speech reception of 40 children and adolescents, aged 10 to 18. The speaker was shown on a screen either wearing or not wearing a face mask, according to the test arrangement.
Results:
The combination of a speaker wearing a face mask with background noise showed a distinct impairment of speech intelligibility whereas these two factors had no significant impact on their own.
Conclusions:
The results of this study could help to improve the quality of future decision-making processes about the usage of instruments to halt the spread of covid-19-pandemic. Furthermore, the results could be taken as baseline for comparison with vulnerable parts of society like hearing- impaired children and adults.
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