Trial reportRespiratory medicine2021
Effects of surgical and cloth facemasks during a submaximal exercise test in healthy adults.
Trial report in Respiratory medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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 pandemic legacy face mask: hidden barrier or insignificant factor in exercise performance?: A randomized crossover trial.Medicine · 2026Trial
- Effects of wearing different face masks on cardiopulmonary performance at rest and exercise in a partially double-blinded randomized cross-over study.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Impact of surgical mask on performance and cardiorespiratory responses to submaximal exercise in COVID-19 patients near hospital discharge: A randomized crossover trial.Clinical rehabilitation · 2022Trial
- Effects of wearing a surgical face mask on cardiac biomarkers, respiratory function, and perceptual responses during exercise in a hot and humid climate at different intensities: a randomized crossover trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Tolerability of facemask during physical exercises during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.Journal of public health in Africa · 2025Review
- Effects of no mask, a surgical mask and a fabric buff on peripheral oxygenation saturation during moderate intensity exercise: a randomised cross-over study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2024Article
- The real bacterial filtration efficiency to evaluate the effective protection of facemasks used for the prevention of respiratory diseases.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Performing moderate to severe activity is safe and tolerable for healthy youth while wearing a cloth facemask.PloS one · 2023Article
- Mask-wearing selectivity alters observers' face perception.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2022Article
- Pulmonary function testing during SARS-CoV-2: An ANZSRS/TSANZ position statement.Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2022Review
- Effects of Wearing Face Masks on Cardiorespiratory Parameters at Rest and after Performing the Six-Minute Walk Test in Older Adults.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 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
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSurgical (SM) or cloth facemasks (CM) has become mandatory in many public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. They may interfere with the participation in physical activities.
objectiveTo evaluate how these masks influence dyspnoea (primary outcome), exercise performance and cardiorespiratory response during a 1-min sit-to-stand test (1STST), and to assess masks discomfort sensations.
methodsA randomized crossover trial was conducted in healthy adults. They performed 3 1STST (with either no mask (NM), a SM, or a CM) separated from each other by 24-72 h. The number of 1STST repetitions and leg rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured. Dyspnoea (Borg scale), hearth rate, respiratory rate and SpO
resultsTwenty adults aged 22 ± 2y (11 males) were recruited. Wearing the CM generated significantly higher dyspnoea than NM at all time points, but it only became clinically relevant after the 1STST (median difference, 1 [95%CI 0 to 1]). The SM generated a small but significant higher leg RPE than NM (median difference, 1 [95%CI 0 to 1]). The masks had no impact on 1STST performance nor cardiorespiratory parameters. Both masks were rated similarly for discomfort perceptions except for breathing resistance where CM was rated higher.
conclusionsIn healthy adults, the CM and SM had minimal to no impact on dyspnoea, cardiorespiratory parameters, and exercise performance during a short submaximal exercise test.
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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.