Wearing Face Mask Reduces Risk for Symptoms of Respiratory Infection

WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Wearing a surgical mask in public spaces is associated with a reduced risk for self-reported symptoms consistent with a respiratory infection, according to a study published online July 24 in The BMJ.

Runar Barstad Solberg, Ph.D., from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, and colleagues conducted a pragmatic randomized superiority trial involving 4,647 adults to assess the personal protective effects of wearing versus not wearing surgical face masks in public spaces on self-reported respiratory symptoms. Participants were assigned to an intervention arm (2,371 participants) or control arm (2,276 participants); the intervention arm was assigned to wear a surgical face mask in public spaces during a 14-day period.

The researchers identified 163 events of self-reported symptoms consistent with respiratory infection reported in the intervention arm and 239 events in the control arm (8.9 versus 12.2 percent), with a marginal odds ratio of 0.71 favoring the face mask intervention (absolute risk difference, −3.2 percent). No significant effect was seen in terms of self-reported or registered COVID-19 infection.

"The effect size was moderate, but wearing a face mask is a simple intervention with low burden and of relatively low cost and is one of several public health and social measures that may be worth considering for reducing the spread of respiratory infections," the authors write.

One author is named inventor on a patent application related to vaccine development.

Abstract/Full Text