The effect of N95 masks on speech recognition in patients with hearing loss

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of N95 masks on speech recognition threshold (SRT) and speech discrimination scores (SDS) of individuals with normal hearing and those with hearing impairment. Patients and Methods: This prospective study included 121 patients between June 2021 and November 2021. Individuals with normal hearing and patients with very mild, mild, moderate, and moderate to severe hearing loss were included. The SRT and SDS were measured while the audiologist was wearing or not wearing an N95 mask. Results: The SRT and SDS values decreased significantly in all study groups, including the normal hearing group, when the test was performed while the audiologist was wearing an N95 mask (p<0.001 for all). Conclusion: Speech understanding was negatively affected in individuals with normal hearing and those with hearing impairments when the audiologist wore an N95 mask. However, the effect of the N95 mask on speech discrimination was more pronounced in hearing-impaired individuals than those with normal hearing.