Table 1.

Summary of studies on the impact of COVID-19 preventative measures on communication included in scoping review (n = 50) according to study subcategory.

	No. studies	Methodologies	Summary of findings
1. Impacts of PPE and/or distancing on communication in healthcare context
1a. HCP-HCP communication	10	Surveys (n = 8), semi-structured interviews (n = 1), combined interviews and media reports (n = 1)	Masks primarily disrupt speech communication, but also affect interpersonal relationships and face recognition. Transparent masks were typically unavailable.
1b. HCP-patient communication	10	Surveys (n = 8), semi-structured interviews (n = 1), combined interviews and media reports (n = 1)	Impacts on both verbal (speech understanding) and non-verbal communication including trust and rapport. Patients feel anxious and fearful. Transparent masks had positive impacts on outcome
2. Impacts of face coverings and/or distancing on communication in everyday life
2a. For the general public	7	Behavioral measures (n = 4), surveys (n = 3)	Masks have broad psychosocial impacts as well as negatively impacting hearing and communication.
2b. For people with hearing loss	6	Surveys (n = 6)	Communication difficulties due to hearing loss are exacerbated by masks, impacting quality of life and wellbeing. People with hearing loss prefer transparent masks over opaque masks.
3. Impacts of face coverings (i.e., face masks, face shields etc.) on speech
3a. Assessed via acoustic measures	15	Combinations of measured attenuation (n = 9), speech indices (n = 3), spectral analyses (n = 3), directional analyses (n = 2), and voice parameters (n = 3)	Masks attenuate sound above 1 kHz. Surgical masks cause least attenuation; transparent masks and face shields the most. Transparent masks/shield affect directionality. Perceived vocal effort is increased.
3b. Assessed via behavioral measures	14	Combinations of speech testing in quiet (n = 7) and in noise (n = 10) for auditory alone (n = 8) and auditory-visual (n = 6) conditions	Face coverings decreased speech scores but was dependent on type, listening condition and hearing status. Transparent masks were relatively more beneficial to people with hearing loss than to people without hearing loss.