Addressing Difficulty in Communication While Wearing a Respirator Mask During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Using a Laryngophone

Authors

  • Laine Valerie C. Kongsun Ching, MD The Medical City
  • Philip Lance Anthony A. Liu, MD The Medical City

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32412/pjohns.v36i2.1811

Keywords:

laryngophone, communication, COVID-19, pandemic, microphone, speaker, respirator mask

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe the use of a laryngophone to aid in verbal communication when wearing elastomeric respirator masks.

Methods:

Design: Instrumentation Innovation

Setting: Tertiary Private Training Hospital

Participants: Five volunteers using elastomeric respirator masks rated laryngophone use, afterwhich they individually rated an additional volunteer on speech intelligibility before and after laryngophone use.

Results: On a scale of 1-10, the average score of the five volunteers for the laryngophone was 8.8 for ease of use, 8.0 for comfort, and 8.0 for ease of communication. Their average speech intelligibility score for the additional volunteer using the respirator mask alone was 2.0, and for use of the respirator mask with laryngophone was 3.6 on a scale of 1-4.

Conclusion: This portable laryngophone speaker may be useful in aiding otolaryngologists and health care providers using elastomeric respirator masks in verbal communication by amplifying speech without needing an external microphone, preventing vocal strain.

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Published

2021-11-11

How to Cite

1.
Kongsun Ching LV, Liu PLA. Addressing Difficulty in Communication While Wearing a Respirator Mask During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Using a Laryngophone. Philipp J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg [Internet]. 2021 Nov. 11 [cited 2024 Nov. 20];36(2):49. Available from: https://pjohns.pso-hns.org/index.php/pjohns/article/view/1811

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 2 (2021): Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Section

Surgical Innovation and Instrumentation

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright transfer (all authors; where the work is not protected by a copyright act e.g. US federal employment at the time of manuscript preparation, and there is no copyright of which ownership can be transferred, a separate statement is hereby submitted by each concerned author). In consideration of the action taken by the Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in reviewing and editing this manuscript, I hereby assign, transfer and convey all rights, title and interest in the work, including copyright ownership, to the Philippine Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. (PSOHNS) in the event that this work is published by the PSOHNS. In making this assignment of ownership, I understand that all accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the PSOHNS and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the PSOHNS unless shared under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.