Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2021 Jan;18(1):28-34. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2020.1844891. Epub 2020 Dec 7.
Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are worn to protect workers from hazardous respiratory exposures in a wide range of workplaces, including healthcare. However, PAPRs may diminish the ability of wearers to correctly hear words spoken by others, potentially interfering with safe performance of healthcare duties. Accordingly, the impact of PAPRs during healthcare use on speech intelligibility (SI) and consequently on user safety, usability, and patient care is not well studied. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine a listener's ability to comprehend single-syllable words spoken by a PAPR wearer; (2) determine a PAPR wearer's ability to intelligibly hear and identify single-syllable words spoken by a PAPR wearer; (3) to assess the variability between speakers, listeners, and PAPR models; (4) to investigate the effects of PAPR design features on SI; and (5) inform a SI requirement for certifying future PAPRs for use in healthcare. This study utilized a Modified Rhyme Test to assess SI for PAPRs. The current National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) methods for assessing SI are limited to the recently introduced PAPR100 respirator class and the class of respirators claiming chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) protections. Four NIOSH-approved PAPRs were evaluated using four human subjects. Four experimental conditions were examined:(1) Speaker and Listener with no PAPR; (2) Speaker and Listener both wearing PAPRs; (3) Speaker with a PAPR, Listener without a PAPR; and (4) Speaker without a PAPR, Listener with a PAPR resulted in a total of 144 experiments. Statistical analysis showed that the SI performance ratings were not significantly different among the PAPR models, but experimental conditions had significant impact on SI. The pattern of SI across the conditions of the experiment also showed a significant difference depending on PAPR model. The SI performance rating for all PAPRs could meet the current NIOSH CBRN certification requirement for speech intelligibility.
动力送风式空气净化呼吸器（PAPR）用于保护工人在各种工作场所（包括医疗保健场所）免受危险呼吸暴露的伤害。然而，PAPR 可能会降低佩戴者正确听到他人说话的能力，从而可能干扰医疗保健职责的安全执行。因此，在医疗保健使用期间 PAPR 对语音清晰度（SI）的影响，以及对用户安全性、可用性和患者护理的影响，尚未得到充分研究。本研究的目的是：（1）确定听众理解佩戴 PAPR 者所说的单音节词的能力；（2）确定佩戴 PAPR 者能够清晰听到并识别佩戴 PAPR 者所说的单音节词的能力；（3）评估说话者、听众和 PAPR 模型之间的可变性；（4）研究 PAPR 设计特点对 SI 的影响；（5）为未来在医疗保健中使用的 PAPR 的 SI 认证提供信息。本研究使用改良韵测试来评估 PAPR 的 SI。目前，美国国家职业安全与健康研究所（NIOSH）评估 SI 的方法仅限于最近推出的 PAPR100 呼吸器类别和声称具有化学、生物、放射性和核（CBRN）防护的呼吸器类别。使用四名人类受试者评估了四种 NIOSH 批准的 PAPR。检查了四种实验条件：（1）说话者和听者均不佩戴 PAPR；（2）说话者和听者均佩戴 PAPR；（3）说话者佩戴 PAPR，听者不佩戴 PAPR；（4）说话者不佩戴 PAPR，听者佩戴 PAPR，共进行了 144 次实验。统计分析表明，PAPR 模型之间的 SI 性能评级没有显著差异，但实验条件对 SI 有显著影响。实验条件下的 SI 模式也因 PAPR 模型而异。所有 PAPR 的 SI 性能评级都可以满足当前 NIOSH CBRN 认证对语音清晰度的要求。
