Effect of Face Mask on Lowering COVID-19 Incidence in School Settings: A Systematic Review

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Journal of School Health Pub Date : 2024-06-12 DOI:10.1111/josh.13483

Luka Viera MSc

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The emergence of COVID-19 resulted in a substantial loss of education because of global school closures. Face masks are a potential measure to restrain the COVID-19 spread; therefore, this paper evaluated the effectiveness of face masks in reducing COVID-19 incidence in school settings.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted by searching the literature in the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register and the World Health Organization COVID-19 global literature. Data were summarized in tabular forms, and the findings were presented as narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

A total of 15,709 records were retrieved. The screening and selection led to the inclusion of 12 observational and 2 quasi-experimental studies. Nine studies were conducted in different states, counties, or districts of the United States, and the remaining 5 were reported from Germany, Finland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The results of 10 out of 14 studies favored mask use in reducing school COVID-19 incidence. Three studies found no link between mask use and COVID-19 incidences, whereas 1 quasi-experimental study noted a higher COVID-19 incidence with mask use in students aged 6-11 years than no use of mask among preschool children aged 3-5 years.

CONCLUSION

Mask mandates may lessen the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases in school settings during a pandemic; more well-designed studies are warranted to clarify further the evidence regarding mask use in school settings.

Abstract Image

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面罩对降低学校环境中 COVID-19 发病率的影响：系统回顾

背景：COVID-19 的出现导致全球学校停课，造成了巨大的教育损失。口罩是抑制 COVID-19 传播的潜在措施；因此，本文评估了口罩在降低学校环境中 COVID-19 发病率方面的有效性：方法：通过检索 Cochrane COVID-19 研究登记册中的文献和世界卫生组织 COVID-19 全球文献，进行了系统性综述。数据以表格形式汇总，研究结果以叙述性综述的形式呈现：结果：共检索到 15,709 条记录。经过筛选，共纳入了 12 项观察性研究和 2 项准实验性研究。其中 9 项研究在美国不同的州、县或区进行，其余 5 项研究分别来自德国、芬兰、西班牙和英国。14 项研究中有 10 项研究结果表明，使用口罩可降低学校 COVID-19 的发病率。三项研究发现使用口罩与 COVID-19 发病率之间没有联系，而一项准实验研究指出，在 3-5 岁学龄前儿童中，使用口罩的 6-11 岁学生 COVID-19 发病率高于不使用口罩的学生：结论：在大流行期间，口罩规定可能会降低学校环境中呼吸道传染病的发病率；需要进行更多设计良好的研究，以进一步澄清有关在学校环境中使用口罩的证据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of School Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

134

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of School Health is published 12 times a year on behalf of the American School Health Association. It addresses practice, theory, and research related to the health and well-being of school-aged youth. The journal is a top-tiered resource for professionals who work toward providing students with the programs, services, and environment they need for good health and academic success.