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 3 Comparison of VAT indexes of 2 exercise tests between the 2 groups.
| Indexes at VAT | Without mask | P value* | With mask | P value** | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VS Group (n=20) | VA Group (n=14) | VS Group (n=20) | VA Group (n=14) | |||
| WR (Watts) | 85.7±19.9 | 81.9±22.2 | 0.608 | 85.9±19.4 | 62.8±22.8 | 0.003 |
| VO/kg (ml/kg/min) | 14.0 ±2.4 | 14.3±2.9 | 0.718 | 14.5±2.9 | 11.5±3.0 | 0.006 |
| HR (bpm) | 132.8±14.1 | 134.7±15.1 | 0.700 | 131.3±14.3 | 124.1±14.6 | 0.167 |
| VE (l/min) | 21.6±4.2 | 20.6±5.6 | 0.530 | 19.0±4.0 | 14.6±4.5 | 0.005 |
| VT (l/min) | 1.05±0.3 | 1.05±0.33 | 0.973 | 1.15±0.37 | 0.96±0.46 | 0.187 |
| BF (bpm) | 21.5±4.6 | 20.7±6.2 | 0.675 | 17.5±4.2 | 17.1±6.1 | 0.831 |
| VD/VT | 0.22±0.11 | 0.21±0.07 | 0.660 | 0.14±0.13 | 0.16±0.07 | 0.619 |
| VE/VCO | 25.7±2.6 | 24.8±2.7 | 0.329 | 22.8±3.3 | 23.6±2.3 | 0.394 |
| PETCO (mmHg) | 42.5±4.1 | 43.0±3.0 | 0.708 | 44.17±4.36 | 41.9±3.0 | 0.106 |
| Data are presented as mean±SD. * values for group test between the VS and the VA groups without mask; ** values for group test between the VS and the VA groups with mask. VAT – ventilatory anaerobic threshold; VS Group – stable VAT group; VA Group – advanced VAT group; WR – work rate; VO/kg – oxygen consumption per kg body weight; HR – heart rate; VE – ventilation per minute; VT – tidal volume; BF – breath frequency; VD/VT – dead space ratio; VE/VCO – carbon dioxide ventilation equivalent; PETCO – end-tidal CO pressure. | ||||||