Researchers at Villanova University found that in low levels of background noise (for the purposes of recognizing spoken sentences immediately after presentation), face masks have a small effect related to speech production without a mask, and some masks have no effect. In high levels of background noise, the effects of different mask types become more apparent.

Homemade cloth masks and N95 respirators had the largest impact on speech recognition while surgical masks had no effect.

Reference

Toscano J, Tocasno C. (2021) Effects of face masks on speech recognition in multi-talker babble noise. PLOS ONE. February 24

Share this

Related Posts

Some Fish Hear with Their Bones and Communicate in an Unusual Way

Tinnitus Severity Linked to Mood, Sleep, and Personality

Influence of the Electrical Dynamic Range (EDR) on Speech Perception, Vocabulary, and Quality of Life in Young Children

Recent Posts

Some Fish Hear with Their Bones and Communicate in an Unusual Way

Some Fish Hear with Their Bones and Communicate in an Unusual Way

We love to scratch the ears of our pets, and when we think of animal ears, we think of fur-covered appendages that are small, large,…

Read More
Advancing Audiology: SPAN Wraps Up 2025 with Key Updates on CPT Codes 
,

Advancing Audiology: SPAN Wraps Up 2025 with Key Updates on CPT Codes 

The State Policy Advocate Network (SPAN) held its final meeting of the year last week, closing out the fourth quarter with a focus on critical…

Read More
Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Update (October 25–November 3, 2025)

Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Update

The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact (ASLP-IC) Commission recently announced that the CompactConnect data system has officially launched! CompactConnect is the data system that…

Read More