Article: Effects of wearing facial masks on pulmonary function, oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure during the six-minute walk test in healthy subjects
| creativeworkseries.issn | Online ISSN: 2676-1424; Print ISSN: 2676-1319 | |
| dc.contributor.author | Jha, Rakesh Kumar | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chaudhary, Sailesh | |
| dc.contributor.author | Sapkota, Suraksha | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gupta, Anil Kumar | |
| dc.creator.affiliation | Department of Physiology, Nepalgunj Medical College, Chisapani, Banke https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1411-7600 | |
| dc.creator.affiliation | Department of Physiology, Nepalgunj Medical College, Chisapani, Banke | |
| dc.creator.affiliation | Department of Physiology, Nepalgunj Medical College, Chisapani, Banke | |
| dc.creator.affiliation | Department of Physiology, Nepalgunj Medical College, Chisapani, Banke | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-09-30T05:12:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-09-30T05:12:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Abstract: The widespread use of surgical masks has prompted concern over their physiological effects during exercise, particularly with scarce data from South Asia; this randomized crossover study therefore evaluated 80 healthy young adults in Nepal performing six-minute walk tests with and without a surgical mask, finding that mask use significantly reduced walking distance (537.9 ± 24.9 m vs. 564.8 ± 22.3 m; p <0.001) and post-exercise oxygen saturation (95.8 ± 1.6% vs. 98.1 ± 0.8%; p <0.001), significantly decreased post-exercise pulmonary function (FVC and FEV1; both p <0.01), and led to significantly higher post-exercise heart rate and systolic blood pressure (both p <0.01), indicating a small but measurable physiological burden during light exercise which, while tolerable for healthy young adults, highlights a need for caution and further study in vulnerable populations with cardiorespiratory conditions. | |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.3126/nmcj.v28i1.92044 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14572/7912 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Nepal Medical College Pvt. Ltd. | |
| dc.subject | Surgical mask | |
| dc.subject | Six-minute walk test | |
| dc.subject | Pulmonary function | |
| dc.subject | Oxygen saturation | |
| dc.subject | Exercise capacity | |
| dc.title | Effects of wearing facial masks on pulmonary function, oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure during the six-minute walk test in healthy subjects | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| local.article.type | Original Article | |
| oaire.citation.endPage | 23 | |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 18 | |
| relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication | 251426f6-5314-4bf5-a4df-69ddabdb49fc | |
| relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 251426f6-5314-4bf5-a4df-69ddabdb49fc | |
| relation.isJournalOfPublication | 865934c8-5e95-468c-8ca6-7bb2529e4064 |