SynthesisJournal of evidence-based medicine2021
Efficacy of surgical masks or cloth masks in the prevention of viral transmission: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and proposal for future trial.
Synthesis in Journal of evidence-based medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- How efficient are facial masks against COVID-19? Evaluating the mask use of various communities one year into the pandemicTurkish journal of medical sciences · 2021Pooled 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
- Reevaluating Mask Effectiveness: Insights From Evidence-Based Medicine and Clinical Trials.Cureus · 2024Review
- A systematic review andPreventive medicine reports · 2023Review
- Mathematical modeling for Delta and Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in Greece.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2023Article
- The effect of activity and face masks on exhaled particles in children.Pediatric investigation · 2023Article
- Hidden Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Effect of High Intensity Interval Training Under Mask on Forced Vital Capacity in Football Players.International journal of exercise science · 2023Article
- Development and initial validation of the attitudes toward face mask use scale (ATFMUS).Heliyon · 2022Article
- Misleading Meta-Analyses during COVID-19 Pandemic: Examples of Methodological Biases in Evidence Synthesis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Clinical trials in older people.Age and ageing · 2022Article
- Speech air flow with and without face masks.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Lessons from the health policies for children during the pandemic in Japan.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Frequency of Correct Mask Use Among Pedestrians in High-Flow Indoor Public Spaces: A Multicenter Analysis in the First and Second Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Peru.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveRecommendations for widespread use of face mask, including suggested type, should reflect the current published evidence and concurrently be studied. This review evaluates the preclinical and clinical evidence on use of cloth and surgical face masks in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and proposes a trial to gather further evidence.
methodsPubMed, EMbase, and the Cochrane Library were searched. Studies of SARS-CoV-2 and face masks and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of n ≥ 50 for other respiratory illnesses were included.
resultsFourteen studies were included in this study. One preclinical and 1 observational cohort clinical study found significant benefit of masks in limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Eleven RCTs in a meta-analysis studying other respiratory illnesses found no significant benefit of masks (±hand hygiene) for influenza-like-illness symptoms nor laboratory confirmed viruses. One RCT found a significant benefit of surgical masks compared with cloth masks.
conclusionThere is limited available preclinical and clinical evidence for face mask benefit in SARS-CoV-2. RCT evidence for other respiratory viral illnesses shows no significant benefit of masks in limiting transmission but is of poor quality and not SARS-CoV-2 specific. There is an urgent need for evidence from randomized controlled trials to investigate the efficacy of surgical and cloth masks on transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and user reported outcomes such as comfort and compliance.
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.