ArticleNature communications2021
Association of social distancing and face mask use with risk of COVID-19.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 94 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
94 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 198 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changes in the prevalence of mental health problems during the first year of the pandemic: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.BMJ mental health · 2024Pooled it
- COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors and Mistrust Among Black and Latino Public Housing Residents in NYC.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2026Trial
- Phase I study, and dosing regimen selection for a pivotal COVID-19 trial of GST-HG171.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2024Trial
- The paradox of neglecting changes in behavior: How standard epidemic models misestimate both transmissibility and final epidemic size.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Modeling the impact of adherence to U.S. isolation and masking guidance on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in office workplaces in 2021-2022.Epidemics · 2026Article
- Smart Face Masks as Wearable Respiratory Sensors: A Review of Sensor Technologies, Materials, and Future Directions.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Treatment of a case of bilateral long-standing temporomandibular joint dislocation indirectly associated with COVID-19 using eminectomy and mandibular traction.International journal of surgery case reports · 2026Article
- Modeling the impact of adherence to U.S. isolation and masking guidance on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in office workplaces in 2021-2022.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Impact of local COVID-19 incidence on health care personnel risk perception and social activity.American journal of infection control · 2026Article
- A global twitter sentiment analysis model for COVID-vaccination.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Perceptions of Children's Use of COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Prediction of one-year cognitive decline via self-perceived memory in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.JAR life · 2026Article
- Effects of Residential Greenness on Influenza Virus Infection in 1,012,430 People: A Nationwide Individual-Level Study in China.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- High-efficiency enzymatic biodegradation of polypropylene-based melt-blown fabric debris.Chemical science · 2025Article
- Seasonal Mortality Patterns Analyzing Epidemiological Impact of COVID-19 on Overall Mortality Rates in Belgrade, Serbia Over Three-Year Period (2020-2023): Mental Health Consequences and Public Health Implications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- National Trends in Asthma Prevalence among Adolescents in South Korea, 2007-2023: A National Representative Serial Study.International archives of allergy and immunology · 2025Article
- BI-SENT: bilingual aspect-based sentiment analysis of COVID-19 Tweets in Urdu language.PloS one · 2025Article
- Assessing vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in high-rise apartments via a joint epidemiologic and modeling investigation.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Factors influencing mask-wearing behavior in the context of COVID-19 severity risks in the post-COVID-19 era: a Japanese Nationwide Epidemiological Survey in 2023.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2025Article
- A simulated annealing with graph-based search for the social-distancing problem in enclosed areas during pandemics.PloS one · 2025Article
34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
21 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Given the continued burden of COVID-19 worldwide, there is a high unmet need for data on the effect of social distancing and face mask use to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. We examined the association of community-level social distancing measures and individual face mask use with risk of predicted COVID-19 in a large prospective U.S. cohort study of 198,077 participants. Individuals living in communities with the greatest social distancing had a 31% lower risk of predicted COVID-19 compared with those living in communities with poor social distancing. Self-reported 'always' use of face mask was associated with a 62% reduced risk of predicted COVID-19 even among individuals living in a community with poor social distancing. These findings provide support for the efficacy of mask-wearing even in settings of poor social distancing in reducing COVID-19 transmission. Despite mass vaccination campaigns in many parts of the world, continued efforts at social distancing and face mask use remain critically important in reducing the spread of COVID-19.
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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.