During non-aerosol generating protocols, surgical masks offer a similar degree of protection to N95 masks against viral respiratory infections including coronaviruses in health care workers (HCWs) 3. N95) are used in aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) and other high risk activities 1. Respirators and surgical masks provide different levels of barrier to prevent infectious transmission via aerosols and droplets 2. These findings implied an attenuation effects of wearing these types of masks on the voice spectra with surgical mask showing less impact than the KN95.įacemasks are an essential piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) and can be broadly categorized into respirators, medical masks (including surgical masks and procedure masks), and woven fabric (cloth) masks 1. CPPS and vocal intensity did not change in mask-wearing conditions. HNR was higher in the mask-wearing conditions than the no-mask condition.

LH1000 for connected speech significantly increased whilst wearing either a surgical mask or KN95 mask but no significant change in this measure was found for vowel. Mean spectral levels of vowel did not change significantly in mask-wearing conditions. In connected speech there was significant attenuation of mean spectral level at 1–8 kHz region and there was no significant change in this measure at 0–1 kHz. Data were analysed for mean spectral levels at 0–1 kHz and 1–8 kHz regions, an energy ratio between 0–1 and 1–8 kHz (LH1000), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), and vocal intensity. In the present study, we compared acoustic voice measures in recordings of sixteen adults producing standardised vocal tasks with and without wearing either a surgical mask or a KN95 mask. Facemasks are essential for healthcare workers but characteristics of the voice whilst wearing this personal protective equipment are not well understood.

The mask sound effect