The Effects of Wearing Facemasks during Vigorous Exercise in the Aspect of Cardiopulmonary Response, In-Mask Environment, and Subject Discomfort

Juntaek Hong, Juahn Byun, Joong-on Choi, Dain Shim and Dong-wook Rha ()
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Juntaek Hong: Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea
Juahn Byun: Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea
Joong-on Choi: Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea
Dain Shim: Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea
Dong-wook Rha: Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-10

Abstract: Non-pharmaceutical intervention such as wearing a mask during the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of the virus. However, despite high effectiveness and easy to access, the biggest problem is ‘discomfort’. The purpose of this study was to measure the changes of cardiopulmonary response and related factors affecting breathing discomfort when wearing a mask during vigorous exercise. Fifteen healthy male adults participated in this study. The experimental protocol consisted of three conditions: no mask; KF-94 mask; and sports mask. Each condition consisted of three stages: stage I, 2 m/s on even level; stage II, 2 m/s with 5° inclination; and stage III, 3 m/s on even level. Oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) and heart rate (HR), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO 2 ), energy expenditure index (EEI), in-mask temperature, humidity, and a five-point scale questionnaire to evaluate subjective discomfort were measured. The results show that there was a significantly higher discomfort score in mask conditions compared with no mask ( p < 0.05) and only pCO 2 change significantly related to subjective discomfort during exercise ( p < 0.05). Moreover, the pCO 2 washout was significantly disturbed when wearing a sports mask in stages 2 and 3, which was related to wearer subjective discomfort

Keywords: facemask; high intensity exercise; cardiopulmonary; in-mask environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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