Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of protective masks has been essential to reduce contagions. However, public opinion is that there is an associated subjective shortness of breath. We evaluated cardiorespiratory parameters at rest and during maximal exertion to highlight any differences with the use of protective masks.
12名健康受试者执行三个相同的卡片iopulmonary exercise tests, one without wearing a protective mask, one wearing a surgical mask and one with a filtering face piece particles class 2 (FFP2) mask. Dyspnoea was assessed using the Borg scale. Standard pulmonary function tests were also performed.
All the subjects (40.8±12.4 years; six male) completed the protocol with no adverse events. Spirometry showed a progressive reduction of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) from no mask to surgical to FFP2 (FEV1: 3.94±0.91 L, 3.23±0.81 L, 2.94±0.98 L; FVC: 4.70±1.21 L, 3.77±1.02 L, 3.52±1.21 L; p<0.001). Rest ventilation, O2uptake (V˙O2) and CO2production (V˙CO2) were progressively lower, with a reduction in respiratory rate. At peak exercise, subjects had a progressively higher Borg scale when wearing surgical and FFP2 masks. Accordingly, at peak exercise,V˙O2(31.0±23.4 mL·kg−1·min−1, 27.5±6.9 mL·kg−1·min−1, 28.2±8.8 mL·kg−1·min−1; p=0.001), ventilation (92±26 L, 76±22 L, 72±21 L; p=0.003), respiratory rate (42±8 breaths·min−1, 38±5 breaths·min−1, 37±4 breaths·min−1; p=0.04) and tidal volume (2.28±0.72 L, 2.05±0.60 L, 1.96±0.65 L; p=0.001) were gradually lower. There was no significant difference in oxygen saturation.
Protective masks are associated with significant but modest worsening of spirometry and cardiorespiratory parameters at rest and peak exercise. The effect is driven by a ventilation reduction due to increased airflow resistance. However, because exercise ventilatory limitation is far from being reached, their use is safe even during maximal exercise, with a slight reduction in performance.
Abstract
Protective mask use in healthy subjects is associated with modest respiratory discomfort and a slight reduction in exercise performance, mainly due to an increase in airflow resistancehttps://bit.ly/3aOCpwB
Footnotes
All raw data collected for the study will be made available to others after request. Data will be stored in anonymised form at www.zenodo.org when the paper is published.
Conflict of interest: M. Mapelli has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: E. Salvioni has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: F. De Martino has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: I. Mattavelli has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: P. Gugliandolo has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: C. Vignati has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: S. Farina has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: P. Palermo has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J. Campodonico has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: R. Maragna has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: G. Lo Russo has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: A. Bonomi has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: S. Sciomer has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: P. Agostoni reports non-financial support from Menarini, Novartis and Boehringer, grants from Daiichi Sankyo and Bayer, and grants and non-financial support from Actelion, outside the submitted work.
Support statement: This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health. Funding information for this article has been deposited with theCrossref Funder Registry.
- ReceivedDecember 10, 2020.
- AcceptedFebruary 3, 2021.
- Copyright ©The authors 2021. For reproduction rights and permissions contactpermissions{at}ersnet.org