30 May 2022 : Clinical Research
Effects of Wearing Face Masks on Exercise Capacity and Ventilatory Anaerobic Threshold in Healthy Subjects During the COVID-19 Epidemic
Qiang Lin
1BCDEF, Yuxing Cai1BC, Changjun Yu2BC, Wei Gu3CD, Yan Tan3CD, Li Wang3CD, Anliang Chen1F, Kai Cheng1F, Ting Meng4F, Xueping Li1AG*
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.936069
Med Sci Monit 2022; 28:e936069
Table 2 Comparison of peak indexes and VAT indexes between 2 exercise tests with and without a mask.
| Indexes | Without mask | With mask | P value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| WR (Watts) | 146.9±42.1 | 133.6±37.3 | <0.001 |
| VO/kg (ml/kg/min) | 24.2±5.9 | 22.3±6.1 | 0.018 |
| HR (bpm) | 170.1±12.1 | 163.7±13.2 | 0.008 |
| VE (l/min) | 41.4±11.1 | 32.9±8.6 | <0.001 |
| VE/VCO | 23.5±2.9 | 21.3 ±2.8 | <0.001 |
| PETCO (mmHg) | 47.4±4.9 | 48.7 ±5.1 | 0.004 |
| WR (Watts) | 84.1 ±20.6 | 76.4 ±23.6 | <0.001 |
| VO/kg (ml/kg/min) | 14.1 ±2.6 | 13.3 ±3.3 | 0.08 |
| HR (bpm) | 133.6 ±14.3 | 128.3 ±14.6 | 0.005 |
| VE (l/min) | 21.2 ±4.8 | 17.2 ±4.7 | <0.001 |
| VT (l/min) | 1.05±0.31 | 1.07±0.41 | 0.556 |
| BF (bpm) | 21.2±5.3 | 17.3±5.0 | <0.001 |
| VD/VT | 0.22±0.09 | 0.15±0.11 | <0.001 |
| VE/VCO | 25.3 ±2.6 | 23.1 ±3.0 | <0.001 |
| PETCO (mmHg) | 42.7±3.6 | 43.2±4.0 | 0.248 |
| Data are presented as mean±SD. * values for paired test between 2 exercise tests with and without a mask. VAT – ventilatory anaerobic threshold; WR – work rate; VO/kg – oxygen consumption per kg body weight; HR – heart rate; VE – ventilation per minute; VE/VCO – carbon dioxide ventilation equivalent; VT – tidal volume; BF – breath frequency; VD/VT – dead space ratio; PETCO – end-tidal CO pressure. | |||