Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24472436›Full record

Trial reportPreventive medicine2014

Efficacy of face masks and respirators in preventing upper respiratory tract bacterial colonization and co-infection in hospital healthcare workers.

C Raina MacIntyre, Quanyi Wang, Bayzidur Rahman, Holly Seale, Iman Ridda, Zhanhai Gao, Peng Yang, Weixian Shi, Xinghuo Pang, Yi Zhang and 2 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Preventive medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 38 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Guideline
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  13. Uptake and effectiveness of facemask against respiratory infections at mass gatherings: a systematic review.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2016
    Pooled it
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  18. Level of Patient Satisfaction with Quality of Primary Healthcare in Almaty During COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Article
  19. Upper respiratoryMicrobiology spectrum · 2024
    Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

C Raina MacIntyreSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia; National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
Quanyi WangThe Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing, China.
Bayzidur RahmanSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Holly SealeSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Iman RiddaSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia; National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
Zhanhai GaoSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Peng YangThe Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing, China.
Weixian ShiThe Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing, China.
Xinghuo PangThe Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing, China.
Yi ZhangThe Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing, China.
Aye MoaSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: a.moa@unsw.edu.au.
Dominic E DwyerCentre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney, Australia.
Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control · CNUNSW Sydney · AUNational Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance · AUWestmead Institute for Medical Research · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe compared the efficacy of medical masks (MM) and N95 respirators (N95) in preventing bacterial colonization/infection in healthcare workers (HCWs).

methodsA cluster randomized clinical trial (RCT) of 1441 hospital HCWs randomized to medical masks or N95 respirators, and compared to 481 control HCWs, was performed in Beijing, China, during the winter season of 2008-2009. Participants were followed for development of clinical respiratory illness (CRI). Symptomatic subjects were tested for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bordetella pertussis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae or Haemophilus influenza type B by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

resultsThe rate of bacterial colonization was 2.8% in the N95 group (p=0.02), 5.3% among medical mask users (p<0.01) and 7.5% among the controls (p=0.16). N95 respirators were significantly protective (adjusted RR 0.34, 95% CI: 0.21-0.56) against bacterial colonization. Co-infections of two bacteria or a virus and bacteria occurred in up to 3.7% of HCWs, and were significantly lower in the N95 arm.

conclusionsN95 respirators were significantly protective against bacterial colonization, co-colonization and viral-bacterial co-infection. We showed that dual respiratory virus or bacterial-viral co-infections can be reduced by the use of N95 respirators. This study has occupational health and safety implications for health workers.

Indexed as

AdultChinaClinical Laboratory TechniquesCluster AnalysisCoinfectionFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMedical Staff, HospitalMultivariate AnalysisOccupational ExposureProspective StudiesRespiratory Protective DevicesRespiratory Tract InfectionsSurveys and QuestionnairesBacterial colonizationHealthcare workersHospitalsN95 respirators and medical masks

Identifiers

PMID24472436
PMCPMC7172205
OpenAlexW2053299848

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.