title: The Effect of Conventional and Transparent Surgical Masks on Speech Understanding in Individuals with and without Hearing Loss.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is generally well known that speech perception is often improved with integrated audiovisual input whether in quiet or in noise. In many health-care environments, however, conventional surgical masks block visual access to the mouth and obscure other potential facial cues. In addition, these environments can be noisy. Although these masks may not alter the acoustic properties, the presence of noise in addition to the lack of visual input can have a deleterious effect on speech understanding. A transparent ("see-through") surgical mask may help to overcome this issue.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the effect of noise and various visual input conditions on speech understanding for listeners with normal hearing (NH) and hearing impairment using different surgical masks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were assigned to one of three groups based on hearing sensitivity in this quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 31 adults participated in this study: one talker, ten listeners with NH, ten listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss, and ten listeners with severe-to-profound hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  Selected lists from the Connected Speech Test were digitally recorded with and without surgical masks and then presented to the listeners at 65 dB HL in five conditions against a background of four-talker babble (+10 dB SNR): without a mask (auditory only), without a mask (auditory and visual), with a transparent mask (auditory only), with a transparent mask (auditory and visual), and with a paper mask (auditory only).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference was found in the spectral analyses of the speech stimuli with and without the masks; however, no more than ∼2 dB root mean square. Listeners with NH performed consistently well across all conditions. Both groups of listeners with hearing impairment benefitted from visual input from the transparent mask. The magnitude of improvement in speech perception in noise was greatest for the severe-to-profound group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings confirm improved speech perception performance in noise for listeners with hearing impairment when visual input is provided using a transparent surgical mask. Most importantly, the use of the transparent mask did not negatively affect speech perception performance in noise.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: Samuel R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Atcherson
authors.affiliation: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
authors.forename: Lisa Lucks
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Mendel
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: Wesley J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Baltimore
authors.affiliation: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
authors.forename: Chhayakanta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patro
authors.affiliation: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
authors.forename: Sungmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pousson
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: M Joshua
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Spann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks; D008875:Middle Aged; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult