Effect of Covid-19 PPE on speech discrimination in noise V1.0 [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effect of PPE required for Covid-19 in ENT operating theatres on speech discrimination in noise for staff with normal hearing
IRAS ID
288201
Contact name
Elizabeth Hough
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
Staff working in hospital theatres have had to change the personal protective equipment (PPE) they use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of respirators and face shields instead of the surgical masks used before the pandemic. Communication in theatre can be difficult due to background noise, high workload and lack of visual cues. Staff have reported an increase in communication difficulties recently as a result of the additional PPE. Good communication in theatre is essential to patient safety and care so it is important to understand the impact of the additional PPE in the ability to communicate in an operating theatre.\n\nIn this study, we will be measuring how operating theatre staff with normal hearing can hear speech when the tester wears the new PPE (respirator and face shield) compared to a surgical mask. The study will be conducted in a operating theatre, at Addenbrooke’s after the end of the day’s surgical list.\n\nEach participant will attend for a single visit lasting 15-30 minutes. They will be asked some screening questions, have a short hearing test using headphones and then the speech test. A tester will read out a list of sentences and the subject will be asked to repeat what they hear. For some sentences the tester will wear a surgical mask, for others the tester will wear a respirator and face shield. There will be some background noise, slightly softer than the speaker, played through a loudspeaker during the test to simulate noise in a theatre environment.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A