Objective: To investigate if a cloth facemask could affect physiological and perceptual responses to exercise at distinct exercise intensities in healthy young individuals.
Methods: Nine participants (sex, female/male: 6/3; age: 13±1 years; VO2peak: 44.5±5.5 mL/kg/min) underwent a progressive square-wave test at four intensities: (1) 80% of ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT), (2) VAT, and (3) 40% between VAT and [Formula: see text] wearing a triple-layered cloth facemask or not. Participants then completed a final stage to exhaustion at a running speed equivalent to the maximum achieved during the cardio-respiratory exercise test (Peak). Physiological, metabolic, and perceptual measures were measured.
Results: Mask did not affect spirometry (forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory volume; all p≥0.27), respiratory (inspiratory capacity, end-expiratory volume [EELV] to functional vital capacity ratio, EELV, respiratory frequency [Rf], tidal volume [VT], Rf/VT, end-tidal carbo dioxide pressure, ventilatory equivalent to carbon dioxide ratio; all p≥0.196), hemodynamic (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure; all p>0.41), ratings of perceived exertion (p = 0.04) or metabolic measures (lactate; p = 0.78) at rest or at any exercise intensity.
Conclusions: This study shows that performing moderate to severe activity is safe and tolerable for healthy youth while wearing a cloth facemask.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04887714.
Copyright: © 2023 Marticorena et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.