How Face Masks Interfere With Speech Understanding of Normal-Hearing Individuals: Vision Makes the Difference.

Autor:	Sönnichsen R; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Oldenburg., Llorach Tó G; Auditory Signal Processing and Hearing Devices, University of Oldenburg., Hochmuth S; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Oldenburg., Hohmann V; Auditory Signal Processing and Hearing Devices, University of Oldenburg.; Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg.; Cluster of Excellence 'Hearing 4 All', University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany., Radeloff A; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Oldenburg.; Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg.; Cluster of Excellence 'Hearing 4 All', University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology [Otol Neurotol] 2022 Mar 01; Vol. 43 (3), pp. 282-288.
DOI:	10.1097/MAO.0000000000003458
Abstrakt:	Objective: To investigate the effects of wearing a simulated mask on speech perception of normal-hearing subjects. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: University hospital. Patients: Fifteen normal-hearing, native German speakers (8 female, 7 male). Intervention: Different experimental conditions with and without simulated face masks using the audiovisual version of the female German Matrix test (Oldenburger Satztest, OLSA). Main Outcome Measures: Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at speech intelligibility of 80%. Results: The SNR at which 80% speech intelligibility was achieved deteriorated by a mean of 4.1 dB SNR when simulating a medical mask and by 5.1 dB SNR when simulating a cloth mask in comparison to the audiovisual condition without mask. Interestingly, the contribution of the visual component alone was 2.6 dB SNR and thus had a larger effect than the acoustic component in the medical mask condition. Conclusions: As expected, speech understanding with face masks was significantly worse than under control conditions. Thus, the speaker's use of face masks leads to a significant deterioration of speech understanding by the normal-hearing listener. The data suggest that these effects may play a role in many everyday situations that typically involve noise. Competing Interests: The authors disclose no conflicts of interest. (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of Otology & Neurotology, Inc.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu