ArticleJournal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR2022
An Acoustic-Phonetic Approach to Effects of Face Masks on Speech Intelligibility.
Article in Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Child mask mandates for COVID-19: a systematic review.Archives of disease in childhood · 2024Pooled it
- A Cross-Language Study of Oral Diadochokinesis: Rates and Rhythm.Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) · 2026Article
- Automated Scoring of the Speech Intelligibility Test Using Autoscore.American journal of speech-language pathology · 2025Article
- Does Native Language Matter in Perceptual Ratings of Dysarthria?Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2024Article
- Children benefit from gestures to understand degraded speech but to a lesser extent than adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to examine the effects of wearing a face mask on speech acoustics and intelligibility, using an acoustic-phonetic analysis of speech. In addition, the effects of speakers' behavioral modification while wearing a mask were examined.
methodFourteen female adults were asked to read a set of words and sentences under three conditions: (a) conversational, mask-off; (b) conversational, mask-on; and (c) clear, mask-on. Seventy listeners rated speech intelligibility using two methods: orthographic transcription and visual analog scale (VAS). Acoustic measures for vowels included duration, first (F1) and second (F2) formant frequency, and intensity ratio of F1/F2. For consonants, spectral moment coefficients and consonant-vowel (CV) boundary (intensity ratio between consonant and vowel) were measured.
resultsFace masks had a negative impact on speech intelligibility as measured by both intelligibility ratings. However, speech intelligibility was recovered in the clear speech condition for VAS but not for transcription scores. Analysis of orthographic transcription showed that listeners tended to frequently confuse consonants (particularly fricatives, affricates, and stops), rather than vowels in the word-initial position. Acoustic data indicated a significant effect of condition on CV intensity ratio only.
conclusionsOur data demonstrate a negative effect of face masks on speech intelligibility, mainly affecting consonants. However, intelligibility can be enhanced by speaking clearly, likely driven by prosodic alterations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.