Effectiveness of Using Face Masks and Personal Protective Equipment to Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies

Pattern and Perception of Impact of Wearing Face Masks on Communication Among Health Care Workers During COVID-19 pandemic: An Observational Study

To assess the impact of wearing masks (KN95, surgical, cloth mask) due to COVID-19 pandemic on interpersonal communication among health care workers and with patients. The present observational study was conducted in tertiary care centre and also included participants from various other health care facilities from all over India over a period of one year from March 2022 to March 2023. 203 health care workers consented to participate in the study. The study was done as an online survey using the questionnaire which was adapted into a Google form consisting of a 15 closed set questions. Participants rated the question using a binary forced choice as either YES or NO. The mean age of participants consenting to the study was 30.9 ± 6.3 SD years,with male predominance (%). Among the choice of use of face mask, 76.35% used surgical mask, 14.77% used KN95 and 8.86% used cloth masks. 15 questions were divided in 5 categories; analysis showed that majority of questions had an affirmative "yes" response. This results of this study indicated that the sudden change in the existing communication situation due to use of face masks in the clinical setup affected interpersonal communication among healthcare workers and with patients, which may also have a bearing on both patient and clinician well being and could have a significant economic impact on health care systems globally. These results provide information about the clinical strain introduced from use of face masks in healthcare settings. Overall, results showed that in healthcare settings, there is increased cognitive load and listening effort for patients and health care providers, as well as changes in clinical efficiency for providers when utilizing masks. These effects are often greater with hearing loss.

Infection Risk Prediction in Healthcare Settings: Lessons from COVID-19 Contact Tracing

Objective

Contact tracing aids epidemic control by enabling early detection and isolation without overburdening healthcare systems despite potential challenges. This study aimed to evaluate the practical application of contact and risk assessment-based models in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection following exposure among healthcare workers in a large tertiary public university hospital in Türkiye.

Materials and Methods

The study was designed as a retrospective cohort study, including contact tracing data from 3389 exposed healthcare workers from March 23, 2020, to October 22, 2021. Contact-based (mask use, contact duration and distance) and exposure risk-assessment-based (low, medium, high-risk) models with and without having symptoms were generated using logistic regression. SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as having a positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test result. Adjustments were made to the models for demographic and occupational variables, previous infection, and vaccination. Model parameters were compared.

Results

Of 3389 exposed healthcare workers, 2451 underwent RT-PCR testing. Among those tested, RT-PCR positivity was 5.9% (144/2451). Lack of personal protective equipment use (odds ratio [OR]=1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.03-2.66) and ≥15 minutes of contact duration (1.89, 1.21-3.09) were significantly associated with RT-PCR positivity. In the risk-assessment model, being a high-risk contact increased the odds of RT-PCR positivity (OR=2.76, 95% CI=1.61-5.03). Adding the presence of symptoms to contact-based and risk assessment models improved model parameters (Akaike information criterion [AIC]: from 1086.1 to 1083.1; Tjur's R2: from 0.016 to 0.019, respectively).

Conclusion

The inclusion of being symptomatic improved the contact-based and risk assessment-based models. Institutions should be encouraged to incorporate symptom inquiries into risk assessment protocols in response to newly emerging respiratory virus epidemics. Institutions lacking the capacity for extensive contact tracing are recommended, at minimum, to track symptomatic exposed workers for epidemic control.

Case-control study of behavioural and societal risk factors for sporadic SARS-CoV-2 infections, Germany, 2020-2021 (CoViRiS study)

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, a variety of societal activities were restricted to minimize direct personal interactions and, consequently, reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The aim of the CoViRiS study was to investigate whether certain behaviours and societal factors were associated with the risk of sporadic symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Adult COVID-19 cases and frequency-matched population controls were interviewed by telephone regarding activities that involved contact with other people during the 10 days before illness onset (cases) or before the interview (controls). Associations between activities and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection were analysed using logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounding variables. Data of 859 cases and 1 971 controls were available for analysis. The risk of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was lower for individuals who worked from home (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3-0.6). Working in a health care setting was associated with a higher risk (aOR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1-2.1) as were private indoor contacts, personal contacts that involved shaking hands or hugging, and overnight travelling within Germany. Our results are in line with some of the public health recommendations aimed at reducing interpersonal contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic.