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Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?

PURPOSE: The authors aim to review available reports on the potential effects of masks on voice and speech parameters. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases through July 2021. Several targeted populations, mask scenarios and methodologies were approach...

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Autores principales: Gama, R., Castro, Maria Eugénia, van Lith-Bijl, Julie Titske, Desuter, Gauthier
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8456395/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34550454
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-07086-9
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author Gama, R.
Castro, Maria Eugénia
van Lith-Bijl, Julie Titske
Desuter, Gauthier
author_facet Gama, R.
Castro, Maria Eugénia
van Lith-Bijl, Julie Titske
Desuter, Gauthier
author_sort Gama, R.
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: The authors aim to review available reports on the potential effects of masks on voice and speech parameters. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases through July 2021. Several targeted populations, mask scenarios and methodologies were approached. The assessed voice parameters were divided into self-reported, acoustic and aerodynamic. RESULTS: It was observed that the wearing of a face mask has been shown to induce several changes in voice parameters: (1) self-reported—significantly increased vocal effort and fatigue, increased vocal tract discomfort and increased values of voice handicap index (VHI) were observed; (2) acoustics—increased voice intensity, altered formants frequency (F2 and F3) with no changes in fundamental frequency, increased harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and increased mean spectral values in high-frequency levels (1000–8000 Hz), especially with KN95 mask; (3) aerodynamics—maximum phonatory time was assessed in only two reports, and showed no alterations. CONCLUSION: Despite the different populations, mask-type scenarios and methodologies described by each study, the results of this review outline the significant changes in voice characteristics with the use of face masks. Wearing a mask shows to increase the perception of vocal effort and an alteration of the vocal tract length and speech articulatory movements, leading to spectral sound changes, impaired communication and perception. Studies analyzing the effect of masks on voice aerodynamics are lacking. Further research is required to study the long-term effects of face masks on the potential development of voice pathology.
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spelling pubmed-84563952021-09-22 Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters? Gama, R. Castro, Maria Eugénia van Lith-Bijl, Julie Titske Desuter, Gauthier Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol Review Article PURPOSE: The authors aim to review available reports on the potential effects of masks on voice and speech parameters. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases through July 2021. Several targeted populations, mask scenarios and methodologies were approached. The assessed voice parameters were divided into self-reported, acoustic and aerodynamic. RESULTS: It was observed that the wearing of a face mask has been shown to induce several changes in voice parameters: (1) self-reported—significantly increased vocal effort and fatigue, increased vocal tract discomfort and increased values of voice handicap index (VHI) were observed; (2) acoustics—increased voice intensity, altered formants frequency (F2 and F3) with no changes in fundamental frequency, increased harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and increased mean spectral values in high-frequency levels (1000–8000 Hz), especially with KN95 mask; (3) aerodynamics—maximum phonatory time was assessed in only two reports, and showed no alterations. CONCLUSION: Despite the different populations, mask-type scenarios and methodologies described by each study, the results of this review outline the significant changes in voice characteristics with the use of face masks. Wearing a mask shows to increase the perception of vocal effort and an alteration of the vocal tract length and speech articulatory movements, leading to spectral sound changes, impaired communication and perception. Studies analyzing the effect of masks on voice aerodynamics are lacking. Further research is required to study the long-term effects of face masks on the potential development of voice pathology. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021-09-22 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC8456395/ /pubmed/34550454 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-07086-9 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Review Article
Gama, R.
Castro, Maria Eugénia
van Lith-Bijl, Julie Titske
Desuter, Gauthier
Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title_full Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title_fullStr Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title_full_unstemmed Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title_short Does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
title_sort does the wearing of masks change voice and speech parameters?
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8456395/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34550454
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-07086-9
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