The effects of face masks on speech-in-speech recognition for children and adults

Abstract

Objectives

This study explored the effects of different face masks on school-age children’s and young adults’ word recognition.

Design

Speech recognition thresholds were measured adaptively in a two-talker speech masker using a closed-set picture pointing task. Target words were recorded by a female talker in five conditions: no mask, transparent mask, face shield, N95 mask and surgical mask.

Study samples

Thirty children (8–12 years) and 25 adults (18–25 years) with normal hearing.

Results

Both children’s and adults’ word recognition was most negatively impacted by the face shield. Children’s recognition was also impaired by the transparent mask. No negative effects were observed for the N95 or surgical mask for either age group.

Conclusion

School-age children, like young adults, are negatively affected by face masks when recognising speech in a two-talker speech masker, but the effects depend on the type of face mask being worn. Acoustic analyses suggest that the reflective materials used for masks impact speech signal quality and impair word recognition.

Keywords:

• Word recognition
• Covid-19
• face masks
• children
• speech-in-speech

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants for their participation in this study and the members of the Child Speech Research Lab for their efforts during data collection. This work was supported by the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).