• Enrico Muzzi, Carol Chermaz, Veronica Castro, Mattia Zaninoni, Amanda Saksida, and Eva Orzan.
• Otorhinolaryngology and Audiology, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Via dell'Istria 65/1, 34137, Trieste, Italy. enrico.muzzi@burlo.trieste.it.
• Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Sep 1; 278 (9): 3565-3570.

ObjectiveTo predict the impact of face personal protective equipment on verbal communication during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.DesignWe assessed the effect of common types and combinations of face personal protective equipment on speech intelligibility in quiet and in a simulated noisy environment.ResultsWearing face personal protective equipment impairs transmission of middle-to-high voice frequencies and affects speech intelligibility. Surgical masks are responsible for up to 23.3% loss of speech intelligibility in noisy environments. The effects are larger in the condition of advanced face personal protective equipment, accounting for up to 69.0% reduction of speech intelligibility.ConclusionThe use of face personal protective equipment causes significant verbal communication issues. Healthcare workers, school-aged children, and people affected by voice and hearing disorders may represent specific at-risk groups for impaired speech intelligibility.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.

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