The Impact of Face Masks on Performance and Physiological Outcomes during Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
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Abstract
Face masks are promoted for preventing spread of viruses; however, wearing a mask during exercise might increase CO 2 rebreathing, decrease arterial oxygenation, and decrease exercise performance. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on the impact of wearing a mask during exercise. Data sources included SPORTDiscus, PubMed, and Medline. Eligibility criteria included all study designs comparing surgical, N95, or cloth masks to a no mask condition during any type of exercise where exercise performance and/or physiological parameters were evaluated. Healthy and clinical participants were included. Mean differences (MD) or standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated and pooled effects assessed. Twenty-two studies involving 1,573 participants (620 females, 953 males) were included. Surgical, or N95 masks did not impact exercise performance (SMD −0.05 [-0.16,0.07] and −0.16 [-0.54,0.22], respectively) but increased ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) (SMD 0.33 [0.09,0.58] and 0.61 [0.23,0.99]) and dyspnea (SMD 0.6 [0.3,0.9] for all masks). End-tidal CO 2 (MD 3.3 [1.0, 5.6] and 3.7 [3.0,4.4] mmHg), and heart rate (MD 2 [0,4] beats/min with N95 masks) slightly increased. Face masks can be worn during exercise with no influences on performance and minimal impacts on physiological variables.
PROSPERO Registration
CRD42020224988
Novelty Points
Face masks can be worn during exercise with no impacts on performance and minimal impacts on physiological variables.
Article activity feed
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.04.22.21255951: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources A literature search was conducted using PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and MedLine including all dates from inception up to March 23, 2021. PubMedsuggested: (PubMed, RRID:SCR_004846)MedLinesuggested: (MEDLINE, RRID:SCR_002185)Meta-analyses were run by using RevMan 5.3 software (Cochrane Community, London, UK), using fixed-effects models. RevMansuggested: (RevMan, RRID:SCR_003581)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when …
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.04.22.21255951: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources A literature search was conducted using PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and MedLine including all dates from inception up to March 23, 2021. PubMedsuggested: (PubMed, RRID:SCR_004846)MedLinesuggested: (MEDLINE, RRID:SCR_002185)Meta-analyses were run by using RevMan 5.3 software (Cochrane Community, London, UK), using fixed-effects models. RevMansuggested: (RevMan, RRID:SCR_003581)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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