Impact of Hearing Loss and Universal Face Masking on Communication and Accessibility in the COVID-19 Era and beyond.
Main Article Content
Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health and government officials encouraged community-wide face mask wearing (i.e., universal masking) to reduce potential pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) to others. Universal face mask use, in combination with physical distancing, while effective, also places considerable burden on communication, particularly for those with hearing loss. This manuscript provides evidence of the impact on speech audibility provided by facemask type, increased physical distance (>2 m), and background noise.
Article Details
How to Cite
TEN HULZEN, Richard D.; FABRY, David A..
Impact of Hearing Loss and Universal Face Masking on Communication and Accessibility in the COVID-19 Era and beyond..
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 10, n. 6, july 2022.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/2890>. Date accessed: 03 july 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v10i6.2890.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
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14. Atcherson SR, Mendel LL, Baltimore WJ, et al. The Effect of Conventional and Transparent Surgical Masks on Speech Understanding in Individuals with and without Hearing Loss. J Am Acad Audiol. 2017;28(1):58-67. doi:10.3766/jaaa.15151
15. Brown VA, Van Engen KJ, Peelle JE. Face mask type affects audiovisual speech intelligibility and subjective listening effort in young and older adults. Cogn Res Princ Implic. 2021;6(1):49. Published 2021 Jul 18. doi:10.1186/s41235-021-00314-0
16. Thibodeau LM, Thibodeau-Nielsen RB, Tran CMQ, Jacob RTS. Communicating During COVID-19: The Effect of Transparent Masks for Speech Recognition in Noise. Ear Hear. 2021;42(4):772-781. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000001065
17. NAL Mask Adjustments to overcome the effect of face masks for hearing aid users (2020). https://www.nal.gov.au/nal-mask-adjust/. Accessed March 25, 2022.
18. McKee M, Moran C, Zazove P. Overcoming Additional Barriers to Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients During COVID-19. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020;146(9):781-782. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.1705
19. Naylor G, Burke LA, Holman JA. Covid-19 Lockdown Affects Hearing Disability and Handicap in Diverse Ways: A Rapid Online Survey Study. Ear Hear. 2020;41(6):1442-1449. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000948
2. Zelaya CE, Lucas JW, Hoffman HJ. Self-reported Hearing Trouble in Adults Aged 18 and Over: United States, 2014. NCHS Data Brief. 2015;(214):1-8.
3. Ray J, Popli G, Fell G. Association of Cognition and Age-Related Hearing Impairment in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018;144(10):876-882. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2018.1656
4. Helzner EP, Patel AS, Pratt S, et al. Hearing sensitivity in older adults: associations with cardiovascular risk factors in the health, aging and body composition study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011;59(6):972-979. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03444.x
5. Lin FR, Metter EJ, O'Brien RJ, Resnick SM, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss and incident dementia. Arch Neurol. 2011;68(2):214-220. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2010.362
6. Lin FR, Albert M. Hearing loss and dementia - who is listening?. Aging Ment Health. 2014;18(6):671-673. doi:10.1080/13607863.2014.915924
7. Livingston G, Huntley J, Sommerlad A, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. Lancet. 2020;396(10248):413-446. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6
8. Jorgensen L, Novak M. Factors Influencing Hearing Aid Adoption. Semin Hear. 2020;41(1):6-20. doi:10.1055/s-0040-1701242
9. Simpson AN, Matthews LJ, Cassarly C, Dubno JR. Time From Hearing Aid Candidacy to Hearing Aid Adoption: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. Ear Hear. 2019;40(3):468-476. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000641
10. Ten Hulzen RD, Fabry DA. Impact of Hearing Loss and Universal Face Masking in the COVID-19 Era. Mayo Clin Proc. 2020;95(10):2069-2072. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.07.027
11. Corey RM, Jones U, Singer AC. Acoustic effects of medical, cloth, and transparent face masks on speech signals. J Acoust Soc Am. 2020;148(4):2371. doi:10.1121/10.0002279
12. Goldin A, Weinstein B, Shiman N (2020). How Do Medical Masks Degrade Speech Reception? Hearing Review. 27(5):8-9.
13. Martin L. NAL update: Impact of face masks and face shields on communication. Hearing Review. 2020;27(10):28-29.
14. Atcherson SR, Mendel LL, Baltimore WJ, et al. The Effect of Conventional and Transparent Surgical Masks on Speech Understanding in Individuals with and without Hearing Loss. J Am Acad Audiol. 2017;28(1):58-67. doi:10.3766/jaaa.15151
15. Brown VA, Van Engen KJ, Peelle JE. Face mask type affects audiovisual speech intelligibility and subjective listening effort in young and older adults. Cogn Res Princ Implic. 2021;6(1):49. Published 2021 Jul 18. doi:10.1186/s41235-021-00314-0
16. Thibodeau LM, Thibodeau-Nielsen RB, Tran CMQ, Jacob RTS. Communicating During COVID-19: The Effect of Transparent Masks for Speech Recognition in Noise. Ear Hear. 2021;42(4):772-781. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000001065
17. NAL Mask Adjustments to overcome the effect of face masks for hearing aid users (2020). https://www.nal.gov.au/nal-mask-adjust/. Accessed March 25, 2022.
18. McKee M, Moran C, Zazove P. Overcoming Additional Barriers to Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients During COVID-19. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020;146(9):781-782. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.1705
19. Naylor G, Burke LA, Holman JA. Covid-19 Lockdown Affects Hearing Disability and Handicap in Diverse Ways: A Rapid Online Survey Study. Ear Hear. 2020;41(6):1442-1449. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000948