Jacobs Joshua L, Ohde Sachiko, Takahashi Osamu, Tokuda Yasuharu, Omata Fumio, Fukui Tsuguya
University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI; St. Luke's Life Science Institute Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Tokyo, Japan.
St. Luke's Life Science Institute Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Tokyo, Japan.
Am J Infect Control. 2009 Jun;37(5):417-419. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2008.11.002. Epub 2009 Feb 12.
Health care workers outside surgical suites in Asia use surgical-type face masks commonly. Prevention of upper respiratory infection is one reason given, although evidence of effectiveness is lacking.
Health care workers in a tertiary care hospital in Japan were randomized into 2 groups: 1 that wore face masks and 1 that did not. They provided information about demographics, health habits, and quality of life. Participants recorded symptoms daily for 77 consecutive days, starting in January 2008. Presence of a cold was determined based on a previously validated measure of self-reported symptoms. The number of colds between groups was compared, as were risk factors for experiencing cold symptoms.
Thirty-two health care workers completed the study, resulting in 2464 subject days. There were 2 colds during this time period, 1 in each group. Of the 8 symptoms recorded daily, subjects in the mask group were significantly more likely to experience headache during the study period (P < .05). Subjects living with children were more likely to have high cold severity scores over the course of the study.
Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds. A larger study is needed to definitively establish noninferiority of no mask use.
在亚洲，外科手术室外的医护人员普遍使用外科手术类型的口罩。预防上呼吸道感染是使用口罩的一个原因，但缺乏有效性证据。
日本一家三级护理医院的医护人员被随机分为两组：一组佩戴口罩，一组不佩戴。他们提供了有关人口统计学、健康习惯和生活质量的信息。参与者从2008年1月开始连续77天每天记录症状。根据先前验证的自我报告症状测量方法确定是否感冒。比较了两组之间的感冒次数以及出现感冒症状的风险因素。
32名医护人员完成了研究，共产生2464个受试者日。在此期间有2例感冒，每组各1例。在每天记录的8种症状中，口罩组的受试者在研究期间出现头痛的可能性显著更高（P < 0.05）。在研究过程中，与孩子一起生活的受试者感冒严重程度得分更高的可能性更大。
尚未证明医护人员使用口罩在感冒症状或患感冒方面有好处。需要进行更大规模的研究来明确确定不使用口罩的非劣效性。
