Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34504826›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2021

Rationale for Mass Masking in Controlling the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Shing Yau Tam, Victor C W Tam, Helen K W Law, May Ling Khaw, Shara W Y Lee

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Shing Yau TamDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China.
Victor C W TamDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China.
Helen K W LawDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China.
May Ling KhawTasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.
Shara W Y LeeDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) into a global pandemic caught the world unprepared. Previously effective measures for containing disease outbreaks were overwhelmed, necessitating strict controls such as lockdowns or curfews. Among the disease control interventions, community mass masking was one of the highly controversial issues with differing opinions on its indications or effectiveness from different health authorities around the world. Regions where community mass masking was timely introduced were associated with lower transmission rates, and more effective disease control. In this article, we discuss the evidence on the effectiveness, and rationale for community mass masking to prevent the COVID-19 transmission. Areas for further research to define the role of mass masking in light of the COVID-19 pandemic will be suggested. This would help policy makers in formulating mass masking policies.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsCommunicable Disease ControlHumansSARS-CoV-2COVID-19face maskinfection controlmass maskingpandemicpublic healthpublic health policy

Identifiers

PMID34504826
PMCPMC8421728

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.