Abstract
There is a lack of reported studies on how the long duration wearing of N95 respirators or surgical facemasks will affect the upper airway functions. Considering the frequency of mask wearing especially in hospitals and during an outbreak of influenza, it is essential to have such data documented. Therefore, the current study is to establish the effect of long duration wearing of N95 and surgical facemasks on upper airway functions. 47 staffs of National University Hospital Singapore in 2013 were recruited. Each of the volunteers wore both N95 respirator and surgical facemask for 3 hours on two different days. During the period of mask wearing, relative airflow rates were recorded. Smell function test was carried out before and after mask wearing. The results show that no significant change of smell test score was found after removal of both the two types of masks. With N95 respirator, more air was breathed into the upper airways compared to surgical facemask.
Highlights
Facemasks are important components of personal protective equipment for medical personnel and workers in atmospherically-hostile environment. This is especially true for healthcare workers who need to interact with patients inflicted by airborne transmitted diseases such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that occurred in March 2003 [1]
In the last 1 hour of wearing N95 respirator, the airflow rates became comparable between the two airways
In the current study based upon objective smell identification test, no significant effect of wearing both N95 respirator and surgical facemask on nasal smell function was found
Summary
Facemasks are important components of personal protective equipment for medical personnel and workers in atmospherically-hostile environment. This is especially true for healthcare workers who need to interact with patients inflicted by airborne transmitted diseases such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that occurred in March 2003 [1]. Many national and international health agencies recommended the use of facemasks for the recent influenza A (H1N1) pandemic [2]. Many reported studies were done on the effectiveness of various facemasks in filtering out airborne pathogens, but very few of them focused on the discomfort level of their use. There were reported studies on the effects of
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