Abstract
Background: Airway masks helps protect the wearer’s respiratory environment. There are many types of airway masks which differ in materials and effectiveness. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a surgical mask, the N95 mask, and an elastomeric respirator mask on cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and subjective parameters on healthcare workers. Methods: We conducted a controlled clinical trial on healthcare workers aged between 17-35 years old. Each subject performed a treadmill test (speed 5.6 km/hour) for 30 minutes while their physiological variables were monitored (pulse rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, end-tidal CO2, body temperature, Borg scale, talk test, blood lactate, intermittent blood sugar, and subjective indicators). Each healthcare workers will be tested for four treatments, namely without using a mask, surgical mask, N95 mask, and elastomeric respirator. Results: All healthcare workers (age 25.10 ± 2.2 years old; 5 males and 5 females) completed the protocol with no adverse event. Pair-wise comparison using two-way ANOVA reported no significant difference within the mask condition for pulse rate (p=0.6497), respiratory rate (p=0.6772), oxygen saturation, (p=0.2587), end-tidal CO2 (p=0.0191), body temperature (p=0.7425), Borg scale (p=0.0930), blood lactate (p=0.6537) and glucose (p=0.8755). A statistically significant difference was reported in talk test (p=0.0129) with elastomeric respirator group showing highest result compared to control. Similarly, statistical significance was reported in subjective indicator of tightness (p=0.0017) with highest mean rank seen in N95 mask condition. However, these differences were clinically insignificant. Conclusions: The effect of surgical mask, N95 mask, and elastomeric respirator on the cardiopulmonary parameters, metabolic parameters, and subjective indicators during 30 minutes of low-moderate intensity exercise is negligible and generally well tolerated by healthcare workers. Registration: TCTR20230630001
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