Observational studyTransboundary and emerging diseases2022
Face-touching behaviour as a possible correlate of mask-wearing: A video observational study of public place incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Observational study in Transboundary and emerging diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effect of face-covering use on adherence to other COVID-19 protective behaviours: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of Wearing a Face Mask on Hand-to-Face Contact by Children in a Simulated School Environment: The Back-to-School COVID-19 Simulation Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA pediatrics · 2022Trial
- Refraining from spontaneous face touch is linked to personality traits, reduced memory performance and EEG changes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Relationship Between Face Mask Use and Face-Touching Frequency in Public Areas: Naturalistic Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Wireless Body Area Network for Preventing Self-Inoculation Transmission of Respiratory Viral Diseases.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Does wearing a surgical mask influence face touching by healthcare workers? A retrospective cohort study.Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA · 2023Article
- Face-touching behaviour as a possible correlate of mask-wearing: A video observational study of public place incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2022Observational
- No evidence that mask-wearing in public places elicits risk compensation behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 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
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Most countries in the world have recommended or mandated face masks in some or all public places during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, mask use has been thought to increase people's face-touching frequency and thus risk of self-inoculation. Across two studies, we video-observed the face-touching behaviour of members of the public in Amsterdam and Rotterdam (the Netherlands) during the first wave of the pandemic. Study 1 (n = 383) yielded evidence in favour of the absence of an association between mask-wearing and face-touching (defined as touches of face or mask), and Study 2 (n = 421) replicated this result. Secondary outcome analysis of the two studies-analysed separately and with pooled data sets-evidenced a negative association between mask-wearing and hand contact with the face and its t-zone (i.e. eyes, nose and mouth). In sum, the current findings alleviate the concern that mask-wearing has an adverse face-touching effect.
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.