The Effects of Operating Room COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment on Speech Perception and Listening Effort

The Effects of Operating Room COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment on Speech Perception and Listening Effort

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the combination surgical mask+N95 mask+face shield in operating room on speech perception and listening effort during the COVID-19 process.

METHODS: The experimental part of the study was carried out in three phases. Thirty-five participants who were found to have normal hearing in Phase I were included in Phase II and Phase III. Speech stimuli were given with a surgical mask in phase II, and a combination of surgical mask+N95 mask+face shield in phase III. The tests performed in free field, in the presence of 60 dB wideband background noise. In the descriptive part of the study, the listening effort of 184 operating room professionals was examined with a 17-item questionnaire.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Inclusion Criteria:
• Operating room nurses and technicians whose medical history was not a vestibular disease and ear surgery, who were shown to have normal hearing (NH) by hearing tests.

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of hearing and vestibular loss