ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
The Association between Wearing a Mask and COVID-19.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 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
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence of Face Masks and Masking Policies for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and COVID-19 in Real-World Settings: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of face masks for reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a rapid systematic review.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Contact dermatitis caused by prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Impacts of relaxed mask policies on COVID-19 epidemics: a modeling study in South Korea.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Comparison of Mask-Wearing Behavior on Social Media and Its Relationship With Demographic Characteristics During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Media Data Analysis Between the United States and Japan.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Article
- Effect of individual preventive practices on COVID-19 infection: an analysis of big data collected at PCR testing centers in Hiroshima, Japan.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mask-wearing behavior patterns among dental patients in post-pandemic China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Factors associated with the mask-wearing behavior of university students in Japan: a cross-sectional study of the post-mask-mandate period.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Epidemiological impact of revoking mask-wearing recommendation on COVID-19 transmission in Tokyo, Japan.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- Wearing masks is easy but taking them off is difficult - A situation in Japan during COVID-19 pandemic and after.Dialogues in health · 2024Article
- Potential Risk Factors to COVID-19 Severity: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Delta- and Omicron-Dominant Periods.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Efficacy of facemasks in preventing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare settings: A scoping review.Journal of infection prevention · 2024Article
- Online public concern about allergic rhinitis and its association with COVID-19 and air quality in China: an informative epidemiological study using Baidu index.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Public perception on face mask wearing during COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia: A cross sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in preventing infection against Omicron strain: Findings from the Hiroshima Prefecture COVID-19 version J-SPEED for PCR center.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Face mask use and viral load in patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19.Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Article
- Effects of Target Variables on Interpersonal Distance Perception for Young Taiwanese during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Role of Vaccination and Face Mask Wearing on COVID-19 Infection and Hospitalization: A Cross-Sectional Study of the MENA Region.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Maintaining Adherence to COVID-19 Preventive Practices and Policies Pertaining to Masking and Distancing in the District of Columbia and Other US States: Systematic Observational Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
With the widespread and increasing number of cases of Coronavirus Disease (2019) globally, countries have been taking preventive measures against this pandemic. However, there is no universal agreement across cultures on whether wearing face masks are an effective physical intervention against disease transmission. We investigated the relationship between mask wearing and COVID-19 among close contacts of COVID-19 patients in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. In the Hiroshima Prefecture, a COVID-19 form adapted from the reporting form, "Japanese Surveillance in Post-Extreme Emergencies and Disasters", was developed to collect data from COVID-19 patients' close contacts under active epidemiological surveillance at Public Health Centers. The relative risk of COVID-19 for mask users versus non-mask users was calculated. A total of 820 interviewees were included in the analysis and 53.3% of them responded that they wore masks. Non-mask users were infected at a rate of 16.4%, while mask users were infected at a rate of 7.1%. Those who wore masks were infected at a rate of 0.4 times that of those who did not wear masks. (RR = 0.4, 95%CI = 0.3-0.6; Adjusted RR = 0.6, 95%CI = 0.3-0.9). These findings implied that COVID-19 could be avoided to a certain degree by wearing a mask.
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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.