Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35689550›Full record

ArticleOccupational medicine (Oxford, England)2022

Skin and respiratory ill-health attributed to occupational face mask use.

M J Seed, K Fowler, L Byrne, M Carder, S Daniels, I Y K Iskandar, J Feary, D J Gawkrodger, M van Tongeren

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Occupational medicine (Oxford, England), 2022. 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
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
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, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

M J SeedCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
K FowlerCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
L ByrneCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
M CarderCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
S DanielsCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
I Y K IskandarCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
J FearyNational Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
D J GawkrodgerDepartment of Dermatology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
M van TongerenCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
University of Manchester · GBImperial College London · GBUniversity of Sheffield · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFace mask use in the workplace has become widespread since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been anecdotally linked to adverse health consequences.

aimsTo examine reports of adverse health consequences of occupational face mask use received by The Health and Occupation Research (THOR) network before and after the pandemic onset.

methodsTHOR databases were searched to identify all cases of ill-health attributed to 'face mask' or similar suspected causative agent between 1 January 2010 and 30 June 2021.

resultsThirty two cases were identified in total, 18 reported by occupational physicians and 14 by dermatologists. Seventy-five per cent of cases were reported after the pandemic onset and 91% cases were in the health and social care sector. 25 of the 35 (71%) diagnoses were dermatological, the most frequent diagnoses being contact dermatitis (14 cases) and folliculitis/acne (6 cases). Of the seven respiratory diagnoses, four were exacerbation of pre-existing asthma.

conclusionsThere is evidence of an abrupt increase in reports of predominantly dermatological ill-health attributed to occupational face mask use since the start of the pandemic. Respiratory presentations have also occurred.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsHumansIncidenceMasksOccupationsAcneasthmacontact dermatitisface maskrespiratory protective equipmentrhinitis

Identifiers

PMID35689550
PMCPMC9384225
OpenAlexW4282929206

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.