ArticleMaterials (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Prolonged Use of Surgical Masks and Respirators Affects the Protection and Comfort for Healthcare Workers.
Article in Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Review of Filtration Performance of Protective Masks.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- [Bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of surgical masks used for eight hours and unused masks with Staphylococcus aureus].Revista espanola de salud publica · 2025Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Perceived Usability of Respirators Among Thai Healthcare Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Water-blocking Asphyxia of N95 Medical Respirator During Hot Environment Work Tasks With Whole-body Enclosed Anti-bioaerosol Suit.Safety and health at work · 2023Article
- Upscaling of Electrospinning Technology and the Application of Functionalized PVDF-HFP@TiOPolymers · 2023Article
- Electrospun nanofibers for medical face mask with protection capabilities against viruses: State of the art and perspective for industrial scale-up.Applied materials today · 2023Review
- Bacterial contamination of medical face mask wearing duration and the optimal wearing time.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
This study explored the ideal period for wearing masks to prevent the physiological and psychological problems associated with long-term face mask use during respiratory infections by healthcare workers. Breathing simulators, surgical masks (SM) and medical respirators (PM) were prepared for two to eight hours. Changes in the comfort of masks (facial skin temperature, breathing resistance, and moisture permeability) and protection (filtration efficiency, resistance to blood penetration, and colony count) were assessed. The results demonstrated that the masks offered efficient liquid-particle filtering even after eight hours of use. However, the number of bacterial colonies using PM and SM grew significantly after two and four hours, respectively. Concerning comfort, the inspiratory resistance of masks rose dramatically after two hours, whereas the moisture permeability declined considerably after four hours. In addition, skin temperature had a significant increase within two hours, which may result in facial discomfort. When conditions permitted, the hospital staff was instructed to replace their masks every two hours.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.