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Updated: Jul 30, 2025
Effects of Surgical Masks on Cardiopulmonary Function in Healthy Subjects
Published on: February 12, 2021
Face masks for respiratory viral illness prevention in healthcare settings: a concise systemic review and
Hiba Sami1, Safiya Firoze1, Parvez A Khan1
1Department of Microbiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
Background And Objectives:
There are conflicting views regarding face mask guidelines amongst healthcare staff to prevent transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), influenza and other respiratory viral infections (RVIs). We conducted a thorough meta-analysis to statistically compare mask use versus no mask use efficacy for RVIs in healthcare settings.
Materials And Methods:
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were used for selecting researches published between 2003 and June 2022 from different databases, including Publisher Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, etc.; 6 studies qualified for inclusion. Data was pooled from in vivo randomized control, case-control and observational studies dealing with the relationship between face mask use and no use by patients or health personnel and RVI prevention in healthcare setups.
Results:
The fixed and random-effects model was carried out to determine pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their respective 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs). The results revealed that wearing a face mask significantly reduced the risk of contracting a respiratory viral illness in hospital settings, with pooled OR (95% CI) of 0.11 (0.04 to 0.33) (probability value (P) <0.08).
Conclusion:
Masks largely succeeded in stopping respiratory virus transmission, as evidenced by the meta-analysis of 6 studies (a total of 927 individuals).
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