The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 49 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
This systematic review and meta-analysis quantified the protective effect of facemasks and respirators against respiratory infections among healthcare workers. Relevant articles were retrieved from Pubmed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Meta-analyses were conducted to calculate pooled estimates. Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicated a protective effect of masks and respirators against clinical respiratory illness (CRI) (risk ratio [RR] = 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]:0.46-0.77) and influenza-like illness (ILI) (RR = 0.34; 95% CI:0.14-0.82). Compared to masks, N95 respirators conferred superior protection against CRI (RR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.36-0.62) and laboratory-confirmed bacterial (RR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.34-0.62), but not viral infections or ILI. Meta-analysis of observational studies provided evidence of a protective effect of masks (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03-0.62) and respirators (OR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.06-0.26) against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This systematic review and meta-analysis supports the use of respiratory protection. However, the existing evidence is sparse and findings are inconsistent within and across studies. Multicentre RCTs with standardized protocols conducted outside epidemic periods would help to clarify the circumstances under which the use of masks or respirators is most warranted.
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“A similar meta‐analysis, Offeddu 2017, based on two trials concluded that masks (either N95/P2 respirators or medical/surgical masks) were effective against clinical respiratory infections (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.77) and ILI (RR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.82) (MacIntyre 2011; MacIntyre 2015).”
From Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (2023) · cites this paper as Offeddu 2017
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Cites
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Evidence of Airborne Transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus
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Grant, R. L. (2014) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.f7450 · Cited by 515 · cited 1×
“as hospital outbreaks and could give misleading information about the actual protective effect of rPPE [19].”
BackgroundA cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers
MacIntyre, C. R., Seale, H., Dung, T. C., Hien, N. T., Nga, P. T., Chughtai, A. A., Rahman, B., Dwyer, D. E., & Wang, Q. (2015) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577 · Cited by 471
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SARS among Critical Care Nurses, Toronto
Loeb, M., McGeer, A., Henry, B., Ofner, M., Rose, D., Hlywka, T., Levie, J., McQueen, J., Smith, S., Moss, L., et al. (2004) · Emerging Infectious Diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1002.030838 · Cited by 345
Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Wang, D., Hu, B., Hu, C., Zhu, F., Liu, X., Zhang, J., Wang, B., Xiang, H., Cheng, Z., Xiong, Y., et al. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1585 · Cited by 20,148
Chu, D. K., Akl, E. A., Duda, S., Solo, K., Yaacoub, S., Schünemann, H. J., Chu, D. K., Akl, E. A., El-harakeh, A., Bognanni, A., et al. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31142-9 · Cited by 3,843
Eikenberry, S. E., Mancuso, M., Iboi, E., Phan, T., Eikenberry, K., Kuang, Y., Kostelich, E. J., & Gumel, A. B. (2020) · Infectious Disease Modelling · doi:10.1016/j.idm.2020.04.001 · Cited by 1,370
Transmissibility and transmission of respiratory viruses
Leung, N. H. L. (2021) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/s41579-021-00535-6 · Cited by 890
Cook, T. M. (2020) · Anaesthesia · doi:10.1111/anae.15071 · Cited by 709
Metadata
- Authors
- Offeddu, V., Yung, C. F., Low, M. S. F., & Tam, C. C.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- KK Women's and Children's Hospital (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Offeddu, Vittoria
- Venue
- Clinical Infectious Diseases
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2017-08-07
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1934-1942
- ISSN
- 1058-4838 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-6591
- PMC
- PMC7108111
- OpenAlex
- W2743706615
- Cited by
- 297
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 134 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 7.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Occupational Health and Safety in Workplaces
- Keywords
- face masks, respirators, N95 respirators, respiratory infections, healthcare workers, occupational infection prevention, influenza-like illness, bacterial respiratory infections, SARS, respiratory protection
- MeSH terms
- Health Personnel, Humans, Influenza, Human, Masks, Ventilators, Mechanical, Respiratory Protective Devices, Respiratory Tract Infections, Virus Diseases, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Occupational Exposure, Infection Control, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Observational Studies as Topic
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