Communication using a telephone while wearing a respirator.
Respirators have been found to degrade communication effectiveness when wearers speak face-to-face. However, little is known about communication effectiveness when using the telephone and wearing a respirator. Eleven pairs of subjects were asked to pronounce and identify words chosen from Modified Rhyme Test lists. Each word appeared on a computer screen in one room and the speaker said the word into the telephone. The listener in another room identified the word and typed it into a computer linked with the first. Subjects wore U.S. Army M40 full-facepiece air-purifying respirators with hoods. Three different speech diaphragm arrangements and two hood materials were tested. Results show that accuracy suffered by about 10% when respirators and hoods were worn compared with the control condition. Word identification speed was one-third to one-half of the control (no respirator or hood) condition depending on specific equipment worn.
Johnson
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Department of Biological Resources Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA.
Scott
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Lausted
C G
CG
Coyne
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KM
Sahota
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MS
Johnson
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MM
Yeni-Komshian
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G
Caretti
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DM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012134:Respiratory Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013689:Telephone