ArticleScandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports2021
Return to training in the COVID-19 era: The physiological effects of face masks during exercise.
Article in Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04785378 (The Effect of Use of Medical Masks on Exercise Capacity and Lower Extremity Endurance in Youth), which is not on this map. Cited by 111 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.
The Effect of Use of Medical Masks on Exercise Capacity and Lower Extremity Endurance in Youth
Who cites it
111 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Safety implications of mask use: a systematic review and evidence map.BMJ evidence-based medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Physio-metabolic and clinical consequences of wearing face masks-Systematic review with meta-analysis and comprehensive evaluation.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- The influence of N95 and FFP2 masks on cardiorespiratory variables in healthy individuals during aerobic exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of Wearing a Mask During Exercise on Physiological and Psychological Outcomes in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of N95 Respirator on Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Physiologic Response: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Bayesian network meta-analysis of face masks' impact on human physiology.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Facial mask acute effects on affective/psychological and exercise performance responses during exercise: A meta-analytical review.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of facemask on patients with COPD: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Impact of Ubiquitous Face Masks and Filtering Face Piece Application During Rest, Work and Exercise on Gas Exchange, Pulmonary Function and Physical Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Physiological Effects of Face Masks During Exercise Worn Due to COVID-19: A Systematic Review.Sports healthPooled it
- The pandemic legacy face mask: hidden barrier or insignificant factor in exercise performance?: A randomized crossover trial.Medicine · 2026Trial
- Respiratory pattern change in female and male runners by respiratory tract restriction using a respirator.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Effect of face masks on dyspnea perception, cardiopulmonary parameters, and facial temperature in healthy adults.Narra J · 2024Trial
- Effect of wearing surgical mask during controlled aerobic training on functional capacity and perceived stress in inactive men: a randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Blood gas levels, cardiovascular strain and cognitive performance during surgical mask and filtering face piece application.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Effects of Wearing Face Masks on Exercise Capacity and Ventilatory Anaerobic Threshold in Healthy Subjects During the COVID-19 Epidemic.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2022Trial
- Effects of face masks on performance and cardiorespiratory response in well-trained athletes.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2022Trial
- Effects of surgical masks on the responses to constant work-rate cycling performed at different intensity domains.Clinical physiology and functional imaging · 2022Trial
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
COVID-19 outbreak has a profound impact on almost every aspect of life. Universal masking is recommended as a means of source control. Routinely exercising in a safe environment is an important strategy for healthy living during this crisis. As sports clubs and public spaces may serve a source of viral transmission, masking may become an integral part of physical activity. This study aimed to assess the physiological effects of wearing surgical masks and N95 respirators during short-term strenuous workout. This was a multiple cross-over trial of healthy volunteers. Using a standard cycle ergometry ramp protocol, each subject performed a maximal exercise test without a mask, with a surgical mask, and with an N95 respirator. Physiological parameters and time to exhaustion were compared. Each subject served his own control. Sixteen male volunteers (mean age and BMI of 34 ± 4 years and 28.72 ± 3.78 kg/m
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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.