The DOI matches its Crossref record; 51 of the 51 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A rapid systematic review of the efficacy of face masks and respirators against coronaviruses and other respiratory transmissible viruses for the community, healthcare workers and sick patients
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The pandemic of COVID-19 is growing, and a shortage of masks and respirators has been reported globally. Policies of health organizations for healthcare workers are inconsistent, with a change in policy in the US for universal face mask use. The aim of this study was to review the evidence around the efficacy of masks and respirators for healthcare workers, sick patients and the general public. METHODS: A systematic review of randomized controlled clinical trials on use of respiratory protection by healthcare workers, sick patients and community members was conducted. Articles were searched on Medline and Embase using key search terms. RESULTS: A total of 19 randomised controlled trials were included in this study - 8 in community settings, 6 in healthcare settings and 5 as source control. Most of these randomised controlled trials used different interventions and outcome measures. In the community, masks appeared to be effective with and without hand hygiene, and both together are more protective. Randomised controlled trials in health care workers showed that respirators, if worn continually during a shift, were effective but not if worn intermittently. Medical masks were not effective, and cloth masks even less effective. When used by sick patients randomised controlled trials suggested protection of well contacts. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that community mask use by well people could be beneficial, particularly for COVID-19, where transmission may be pre-symptomatic. The studies of masks as source control also suggest a benefit, and may be important during the COVID-19 pandemic in universal community face mask use as well as in health care settings. Trials in healthcare workers support the use of respirators continuously during a shift. This may prevent health worker infections and deaths from COVID-19, as aerosolisation in the hospital setting has been documented.
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Chen, N., Zhou, M., Dong, X., Qu, J., Gong, F., Han, Y., Qiu, Y., Wang, J., Liu, Y., Wei, Y., et al. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30211-7 · Cited by 21,415
Aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 as compared with SARS-CoV-1
van Doremalen, N., Bushmaker, T., Morris, D. H., Holbrook, M. G., Gamble, A., Williamson, B. N., Tamin, A., Harcourt, J. L., Thornburg, N. J., Gerber, S. I., et al. (2020) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmc2004973 · Cited by 9,951
SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients
Zou, L., Ruan, F., Huang, M., Liang, L., Huang, H., Hong, Z., Yu, J., Kang, M., Song, Y., Xia, J., et al. (2020) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmc2001737 · Cited by 4,810
Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19
He, X., Lau, E. H. Y., Wu, P., Deng, X., Wang, J., Hao, X., Lau, Y. C., Wong, J. Y., Guan, Y., Tan, X., et al. (2020) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0869-5 · Cited by 4,247
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
Leung, N. H. L., Chu, D. K. W., Shiu, E. Y. C., Chan, K.-H., McDevitt, J. J., Hau, B. J. P., Yen, H.-L., Li, Y., Ip, D. K. M., Peiris, J. S. M., et al. (2020) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0843-2 · Cited by 2,270
Ong, S. W. X., Tan, Y. K., Chia, P. Y., Lee, T. H., Ng, O. T., Wong, M. S. Y., & Marimuthu, K. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.3227 · Cited by 2,140
Aerodynamic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Two Wuhan Hospitals
Liu, Y., Ning, Z., Chen, Y., Guo, M., Liu, Y., Gali, N. K., Sun, L., Duan, Y., Cai, J., Westerdahl, D., et al. (2020) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2271-3 · Cited by 1,872
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Guo, Z.-D., Wang, Z.-Y., Zhang, S.-F., Li, X., Li, L., Li, C., Cui, Y., Fu, R.-B., Dong, Y.-Z., Chi, X.-Y., et al. (2020) · Emerging Infectious Diseases · doi:10.3201/eid2607.200885 · Cited by 1,065
Cited by
Effective public health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19: a systematic review
Ayouni, I., Maatoug, J., Dhouib, W., Zammit, N., Fredj, S. B., Ghammam, R., & Ghannem, H. (2021) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11111-1 · Cited by 418
Alfelali, M., Haworth, E. A., Barasheed, O., Badahdah, A.-M., Bokhary, H., Tashani, M., Azeem, M. I., Kok, J., Taylor, J., Barnes, E. H., et al. (2020) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240287 · Cited by 55
Umeda, M., Tominaga, T., Kozuma, K., Kitazawa, H., Furushima, D., Hibi, M., & Yamada, H. (2021) · European Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1007/s00394-021-02681-2 · Cited by 31
Study of the inward protection efficiency of various facial masks
El Khayri, H., Pieris, S., Peterson, S. D., & Yarusevych, S. (2025) · Aerosol Science and Technology · doi:10.1080/02786826.2025.2547901
Metadata
- Authors
- MacIntyre, C. R., & Chughtai, A. A.
- Venue
- International Journal of Nursing Studies
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-08
- Volume
- 108
- Pages
- 103629
- ISSN
- 0020-7489 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3022209591
- Cited by
- 319
- References
- 51
- FWCI
- 14.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
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- MacIntyre, C. R., & Chughtai, A. A. (2020). A rapid systematic review of the efficacy of face masks and respirators against coronaviruses and other respiratory transmissible viruses for the community, healthcare workers and sick patients. International Journal of Nursing Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103629
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
