Effect of Face Masks on Voice Quality Associated with Young and Older Chinese Adult Speakers

Abstract

ObjectivesFace masks have become important after the pandemic, but the change in voice when wearing a face mask is still unclear. The study investigated the effect of face masks on the acoustic and perceptual characteristics of voice quality associated with young and older Chinese adults. MethodsVoice samples of the sustained vowel /a/ and continuous speech produced by 44 older and 61 young adults with and without an ASTM level-3 surgical face mask were recorded and analyzed. Perceptual and acoustic parameters including mean fundamental frequency (F0) and intensity, perturbation measures (jitter and shimmer), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPs), and long-term average spectrum (LTAS) measures were obtained and compared. ResultsWhen comparing masked to unmasked voices, for both male and female speakers, F0 and intensity showed no significant changes, except for F0 of continuous speech, which increased significantly. Meanwhile, perturbation measures including jitter and shimmer were reduced, HNR and CPPs were increased, and LTAS measures encompass low frequency mean spectral energy (MSE), high frequency MSE, and spectral tilt (ST) were different. For perceptual measures, the overall grade of dysphonia, and roughness were reduced, except for the breathiness among older male speakers, while the other vocal qualities were not changed. Between young and older speakers, significant differences in shimmer, CPPs, and perceived breathiness among male speakers, and low frequency MSE among female speakers were found. ConclusionWearing a surgical mask appeared to change the perceived voice quality. This is supported by the change in perturbation and LTAS measures, and HNR and CPPs values. In addition, some differences between young and older male adults were observed. Communication effectiveness may be affected when wearing surgical masks due to changes in voice quality. Additionally, clinicians need to exercise caution in evaluating the voice quality of clients when wearing face masks.