Atcherson Samuel R, Finley Evan T, Hahne Jeanne
Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Audiol Res. 2025 Aug 11;15(4):103. doi: 10.3390/audiolres15040103.
Face masks are used in healthcare for the prevention of the spread of disease; however, the recent COVID-19 pandemic raised awareness of the challenges of typical opaque masks that obscure nonverbal cues. In addition, various masks have been shown to attenuate speech above 1000 Hz, and lack of nonverbal cues exacerbates speech understanding in the presence of background noise. Transparent masks can help to overcome the loss of nonverbal cues, but they have greater attenuative effects on higher speech frequencies. This study evaluated a newer prototype transparent face mask redesigned from a version evaluated in a previous study. Thirty participants (10 with normal hearing, 10 with moderate hearing loss, and 10 with severe-to-profound hearing loss) were recruited. Selected lists from the Connected Speech Test (CST) were digitally recorded using male and female talkers and presented to listeners at 65 dB HL in 12 conditions against a background of 4-talker babble (+5 dB SNR): without a mask (auditory only and audiovisual), with an opaque mask (auditory only and audiovisual), and with a transparent mask (auditory only and audiovisual). Listeners with normal hearing performed consistently well across all conditions. For listeners with hearing loss, speech was generally easier to understand with the male talker. Audiovisual conditions were better than auditory-only conditions, and No Mask and Transparent Mask conditions were better than Opaque Mask conditions. These findings continue to support the use of transparent masks to improve communication, minimize medical errors, and increase patient satisfaction.
口罩在医疗保健中用于预防疾病传播；然而，最近的新冠疫情提高了人们对典型不透明口罩遮挡非语言线索这一挑战的认识。此外，各种口罩已被证明会衰减1000赫兹以上的语音，并且在存在背景噪音的情况下，非语言线索的缺失会加剧语音理解的难度。透明口罩有助于克服非语言线索的缺失，但它们对较高语音频率有更大的衰减作用。本研究评估了一种基于先前研究中评估过的版本重新设计的新型透明口罩原型。招募了30名参与者（10名听力正常、10名中度听力损失和10名重度至极重度听力损失者）。使用男性和女性说话者对《连贯语音测试》（CST）中的选定列表进行数字录音，并在4名说话者的嘈杂背景（信噪比 +5 dB）下，以65 dB HL的强度在12种条件下呈现给听众：不戴口罩（仅听觉和视听）、戴不透明口罩（仅听觉和视听）以及戴透明口罩（仅听觉和视听）。听力正常的听众在所有条件下表现始终良好。对于听力损失的听众，男性说话者的语音通常更容易理解。视听条件优于仅听觉条件，不戴口罩和透明口罩条件优于不透明口罩条件。这些发现继续支持使用透明口罩来改善沟通、减少医疗差错并提高患者满意度。
