ReviewActa paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)2021
The impact of face masks on children-A mini review.
Review in Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Risks and benefits of face masks in children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- The real-world effectiveness of preschoolers wearing masks on campus to prevent respiratory infectious diseases: a cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Exploring the use of masks for protection against the effects of wildfire smoke among people with preexisting respiratory conditions.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Influence of child and adult faces with face masks on emotion perception and facial mimicry.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Effects of Wearing FFP2 Masks on SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates in Classrooms.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Investigation of the Thermal Comfort Properties of Masks Used during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- How Middle and High School Students Wear Their Face Masks in Classrooms and School Buildings.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Attitudes of Children Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment toward Face Mask Wearing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Impact of Using Facemasks on Literacy Learning: The Perception of Early Childhood Education Teachers.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2022Article
- Coronavirus disease 2019 transmission and symptoms in young children during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Delta variant and Omicron variant outbreaks.The Journal of international medical research · 2022Article
- Emergence of the delta variant and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in secondary school students and staff: Prospective surveillance in 18 schools, England.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- [Effects of surgical face masks on exercise performance and perceived exertion of exercise in well-trained healthy boys].Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2022Article
- Developments in pediatrics in 2020: choices in allergy, autoinflammatory disorders, critical care, endocrinology, genetics, infectious diseases, microbiota, neonatology, neurology, nutrition, ortopedics, respiratory tract illnesses and rheumatology.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2021Review
- Assessment of respiratory function in children wearing a N95 mask with or without an exhalation valve: Data compared.Data in brief · 2021Article
- Protection of our Future Generation: Use of Face Masks in Children amidst COVID-19 Era.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2021Article
- Considerations for the Safe Operation of Schools During the Coronavirus Pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2021Review
- [Protection against COVID-19].Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde : Organ der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Kinderheilkunde · 2021Article
- Prevalence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Cross-Sectional Study of 2 167 453 Outpatients.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
- Hand hygiene and mask-wearing behaviors and the related factors during the COVID 19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study with secondary school students in Turkey.Journal of pediatric nursingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimFace masks are essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization, recommend that they are used for children aged six years and older. However, parents are increasingly expressing concerns about whether these might be physically harmful. This mini review assessed the evidence.
methodWe conducted a narrative review on the effects of mask wearing on physiological variables in children, using PubMed, the Cochrane Library and the World Health Organization COVID-19 Database up to 7 November 2020. The lack of paediatric studies prompted a second search for adult studies.
resultsWe only found two paediatric studies, published in 2019 and 2020. The 2020 study was not related to COVID-19. Only one study, performed with N95 respirators, collected medical parameters, and this did not suggest any harmful effects of gas exchange. The eight adult studies, including four prompted by the pandemic and one on surgeons, reported that face masks commonly used during the pandemic did not impair gas exchange during rest or mild exercise.
conclusionInternational guidelines recommend face masks for children aged six years and older, but further studies are needed to provide evidence-based recommendations for different age groups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.