Trial reportBMJ open2016
Cluster randomised controlled trial to examine medical mask use as source control for people with respiratory illness.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05270538 (Cardiorespiratory and Acid-basic Imbalance Caused by Use of Face Mask, During Physical Exercices), which is not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Cardiorespiratory and Acid-basic Imbalance Caused by Use of Face Mask, During Physical Exercices
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 203 citations in OpenAlex.
- Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Mask-Wearing on Respiratory Illness Transmission in Community Settings: A Rapid Review.Disaster medicine and public health preparedness · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy and practice of facemask use in general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Efficacy of surgical masks or cloth masks in the prevention of viral transmission: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and proposal for future trial.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Facemask use in community settings to prevent respiratory infection transmission: A rapid review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- A rapid systematic review of the efficacy of face masks and respirators against coronaviruses and other respiratory transmissible viruses for the community, healthcare workers and sick patients.International journal of nursing studies · 2020Pooled it
- Masks for prevention of viral respiratory infections among health care workers and the public: PEER umbrella systematic review.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks against influenza: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Article
- Investigating socio-ecological factors influencing implementation of tuberculosis infection prevention and control in rural Papua New Guinea.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- The real-world effectiveness of preschoolers wearing masks on campus to prevent respiratory infectious diseases: a cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Effect of Face Masking on Transmission of SARS-CoV-2.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Article
- Tuberculosis infection prevention and control in rural Papua New Guinea: an evaluation using the infection prevention and control assessment framework.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Article
- Article
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace: Key findings from a rapid review of the literature.Aerosol science and technology : the journal of the American Association for Aerosol Research · 2023Article
- Household transmission of the Delta COVID-19 variant in Queensland, Australia: a case series.Epidemiology and infection · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleMedical masks are commonly used by sick individuals with influenza-like illness (ILI) to prevent spread of infections to others, but clinical efficacy data are absent.
objectiveDetermine whether medical mask use by sick individuals with ILI protects well contacts from related respiratory infections.
setting6 major hospitals in 2 districts of Beijing, China.
designCluster randomised controlled trial.
participants245 index cases with ILI.
interventionIndex cases with ILI were randomly allocated to medical mask (n=123) and control arms (n=122). Since 43 index cases in the control arm also used a mask during the study period, an as-treated post hoc analysis was performed by comparing outcomes among household members of index cases who used a mask (mask group) with household members of index cases who did not use a mask (no-mask group).
main outcome measurePrimary outcomes measured in household members were clinical respiratory illness, ILI and laboratory-confirmed viral respiratory infection.
resultsIn an intention-to-treat analysis, rates of clinical respiratory illness (relative risk (RR) 0.61, 95% CI 0.18 to 2.13), ILI (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.03 to 3.13) and laboratory-confirmed viral infections (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.06 to 15.54) were consistently lower in the mask arm compared with control, although not statistically significant. A post hoc comparison between the mask versus no-mask groups showed a protective effect against clinical respiratory illness, but not against ILI and laboratory-confirmed viral respiratory infections.
conclusionsThe study indicates a potential benefit of medical masks for source control, but is limited by small sample size and low secondary attack rates. Larger trials are needed to confirm efficacy of medical masks as source control. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12613000852752; Results.
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Registered trials
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.