Physiological Responses to Facemask Use during a Graded Treadmill Test in Healthy Male Adolescents and Young.

Background: we aimed to investigate the physiological impact of facemasks use during a graded treadmill exercise test in male adolescents and young adults.

Materials and methods: Twenty-one males aged 15 to 28 volunteered. Participants completed four sessions with a 72-hour gap between each session. They completed four visits: 1 rest and 3 graded treadmill exercise test sessions no mask, surgical mask, and FFP2/N95 mask. Pre- and post-graded treadmill exercise test, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and blood oxygen saturation were measured. Repeated measures analysis of variance determined statistical differences (p<0.05).

Results: There were no differences in exercise performance (e.g., time to termination, estimated VO2max) nor heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure between conditions. FFP2/N95 mask resulted in lower blood oxygen saturation compared to no mask and surgical mask, and the surgical mask was lower than no mask at exhaustion.

Conclusion: Participants could safely complete the graded treadmill exercise test without detriment to exercise performance even though blood oxygen saturation decreased with facemask use.