The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced mandatory mask usage, particularly in hospitals, and its impact on the vocal problems and speech intelligibility of healthcare workers was examined in this study. A total of 76 healthcare workers from various units, including emergency, inpatient,
outpatient, and intensive care, participated in an online questionnaire survey to assess vocal issues experienced while wearing masks. The participants' self-assessed vocal handicaps were quantified using the Vocal Handicap Index (VHI) score. The findings revealed that healthcare workers in
emergency units faced the most severe vocal problems, followed by those in outpatient units. The most reported vocal symptoms were clearing the throat and throat dryness. Additionally, noise levels were measured continuously for four hours in each unit, and sources of noise were identified.
The measured sound pressure levels (SPL) in emergency, inpatient, outpatient, and intensive care units were 68.64, 63, and 72 dBA, respectively. These values exceeded the World Health Organization's recommended limit of 30-40 dBA, indicating significant discomfort. Lastly, to delve deeper
into the increased vocal effort required when wearing masks, the Speech Transmission Index (STI) parameter was analyzed using the recorded SPL as background noise and audio recordings of healthcare workers in different mask-wearing conditions. The study discovered that using a mask considerably
reduced speech intelligibility compared to not wearing a mask. Keyword: healthcare workers, vocal problems, noise level, pandemic
No Reference information available - sign in for access.
No Citation information available - sign in for access.
No Supplementary Data.
No Article Media
No Metrics
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations:
1:
Bandung Institute of Technology
2:
Acoustics Research Unit, School of Architecture, University of Liverpool
3:
Friendship Center General Hospital
Publication date:
30 November 2023
More about this publication?
The Noise-Con conference proceedings are sponsored by INCE/USA and the Inter-Noise proceedings by I-INCE. NOVEM (Noise and Vibration Emerging Methods) conference proceedings are included. All NoiseCon Proceedings one year or older are free to download. InterNoise proceedings from outside the USA older than 10 years are free to download. Others are free to INCE/USA members and member societies of I-INCE.
- Membership Information
- INCE Subject Classification
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites