Caragli Valeria, Zacheo Elisa, Nodari Rosalba, Genovese Elisabetta, Mancuso Antonio, Mazzoni Laura
Audiology and Phoniatrics Service, ENT Department, University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Department of Philology and Literary Criticism, University of Siena, Campus del Pionta, Arezzo, Italy.
Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2024 Dec;44(6):377-391. doi: 10.14639/0392-100X-N2851.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic required the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in medical and social contexts to reduce exposure and prevent pathogen transmission. This study aims to analyse possible changes in voice and speech parameters with and without PPE.
Speech samples using different types of PPE were obtained. Recordings were then analysed using PRAAT software (version 6.1.42). Statistical analysis was conducted using ANOVA in Jamovi software. A post-hoc test was performed to compare PPE-related results.
Statistically significant differences were found in Cepstral Peak of Prominence-Smoothed, Harmonic to Noise Ratio (HNR), slope of Long-Term Average Spectrum (LTAS), tilt of trendline through LTAS, shimmer parameters, HNR mean and standard deviation of vowels, vowels and consonants formants. HNR values increased whereas shimmer parameters and formant values reduced using PPE [PPE combined>filtering face piece (FFP)> surgical masks>no PPE].
Our data show improvement in many parameters of voice and speech quality and modification of speech articulation when using masks, particularly in case of combined PPE. The most relevant changes were found with a combination of face shield and FFP2 masks. This may be due to unconscious improvements in speech articulation and increased demand on vocal folds to achieve better speech intelligibility.
2019冠状病毒病大流行要求在医疗和社会环境中使用个人防护装备（PPE），以减少暴露并防止病原体传播。本研究旨在分析佩戴和不佩戴个人防护装备时声音和语音参数的可能变化。
获取使用不同类型个人防护装备的语音样本。然后使用PRAAT软件（版本6.1.42）对录音进行分析。使用Jamovi软件中的方差分析进行统计分析。进行事后检验以比较与个人防护装备相关的结果。
在突出平滑的谐波峰值、谐波噪声比（HNR）、长期平均谱（LTAS）斜率、通过LTAS的趋势线倾斜度、闪烁参数、元音的HNR均值和标准差、元音和辅音共振峰方面发现了统计学上的显著差异。使用个人防护装备时，HNR值增加，而闪烁参数和共振峰值降低[组合式个人防护装备>过滤式面罩（FFP）>外科口罩>不使用个人防护装备]。
我们的数据表明，佩戴口罩时，尤其是使用组合式个人防护装备时，声音和语音质量的许多参数得到改善，语音清晰度也有所改变。最显著的变化出现在面罩和FFP2口罩组合使用时。这可能是由于语音清晰度的无意识改善以及对声带的需求增加，以实现更好的语音可懂度。
