Abstract
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has changed worldwide hygiene practices. In particular, the use of filtering face piece (FFP) masks markedly increased. Concerns have been raised regarding possible negative respiratory effects of wearing FFP masks. Aim of this study was to investigate gas exchange and subjective breathing effort in hospital personnel wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks.
Methods In this prospective, single-centre, crossover study, 200 hospital workers were assigned to alternately wear FFP2 or FFP3 masks for one hour during routine activities. Capillary blood gas analysis was performed to evaluate gas exchange while wearing the FFP masks. The primary endpoint was the change in capillary partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PcCO2). In addition, PcO2, respiratory rate, and subjective breathing effort were assessed at the end of each hour. Changes between time points and study groups were estimated using univariate and multivariate models.
Results PcCO2 increased from 36.8±3.5 to 37.2±3.3 (p=0.047) and 37.4±3.2 (p=0.003) mmHg in individuals wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks, respectively. Age (p=0.021) and male gender (p<0.001) were significantly associated with increased PcCO2. Similarly, the PcO2 increased from 70.7±8.4 to 73.4±8.8 (p<0.001) and 72.8±8.5 (p=0.004) mmHg in individuals wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks, respectively. Respiratory rate and subjective breathing effort increased significantly while wearing FFP2 and FFP3 masks (p<0.001 for all analyses). The order of wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks did not significantly affect the results.
Conclusions An hour of wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks increased PcCO2 values, respiratory rate, and subjective breathing effort in healthcare personnel performing routine activities.
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
This is a PDF-only article. Please click on the PDF link above to read it.
- Received March 23, 2023.
- Accepted April 6, 2023.
- Copyright ©The authors 2023
This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0. For commercial reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions{at}ersnet.org
