ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In the COVID-19 pandemic, the concern about mask-harmful effects disturbed mask-adherence. However, it is not certain whether the masks cause cardiopulmonary overload. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the physiological and disturbing effects of surgical face masks during exercise. METHOD: The study was conducted in a tertiary hospital with 100 healthy volunteers between September 2020 and January 2021. Individuals with impaired walking, cardiopulmonary disease, and smoking were not included in the study. Initially, respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO2), end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) were measured. Participants underwent 6-minute walking test (6MWT) with and without surgical masks. Mask-discomfort questionnaire was applied before and after 6 MWT with the mask. RESULTS: Surgical masks during 6 MWTs significantly increased HR, RR, and EtCO2 levels (p<0.001). Walking distance (p<0.001) and SpO2 level (p=0.002) were significantly decreased with mask. In Mask-Discomfort Questionnaire, humidity, temperature, resistance, salinity, odor, fatigue (p<0.001), and itching (p=0.001) scores significantly increased after 6MWT with mask. CONCLUSION: In healthy volunteers, HR, RR, EtCO2 were increased, and SpO2 and walking distance were decreased in the short-term, light exercise performed with the surgical mask. Findings support the concern that masks may cause cardiopulmonary overload (Tab. 3, Fig. 1, Ref. 17). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: COVID-19, masks, physiology, psychological side effects, questionnaire.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Masks , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , WalkingABSTRACT
Introduction: This study aims to inspire researchers to conduct future studies within this subject area through a bibliometric analysis of publications that focused on COVID-19-related medical education. Materials and methods: The data of the study were obtained by determining publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) bibliographic database that focused on COVID-19-related medical education and then analyzed according to bibliometric methodology. VOSviewer software and visualization maps were used to report the analytical findings obtained from the collected data. Results: The findings showed that the number of publications that focused on COVID-19-related medical education increased steadily and consistently and that these publications focused on different topics such as "medical students," "telemedicine," "pandemic," "undergraduate," and "e-learning." It was determined that the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Singapore were the top contributors to the articles published on COVID-19-related medical education and that most publications consisted of "theoretical studies." In addition, the results of this study revealed that in order to contribute to the rapid dissemination of scientific knowledge produced during the pandemic, the editorial (referee/blind review) and publication processes of journals were conducted quicker than usual for articles pertaining to COVID-19. Conclusion: This study revealed the research trends and current status of publications that focused on COVID-19-related medical education through bibliometric analysis and provided important findings for the future research vision of this subject area. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no other comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications with a focus on COVID-19-related medical education has been conducted thus far. The current study, therefore, contributes to the knowledge base on COVID-19-related medical education by offering scientometric analysis of the existing literature and knowledge. © 2021 A. CARBONE Editore. All rights reserved.