Medical Masks Versus N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers : A Randomized Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is uncertain if medical masks offer similar protection against COVID-19 compared with N95 respirators.

Objective

To determine whether medical masks are noninferior to N95 respirators to prevent COVID-19 in health care workers providing routine care.

Design

Multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04296643).

Setting

29 health care facilities in Canada, Israel, Pakistan, and Egypt from 4 May 2020 to 29 March 2022.

Participants

1009 health care workers who provided direct care to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

Intervention

Use of medical masks versus fit-tested N95 respirators for 10 weeks, plus universal masking, which was the policy implemented at each site.

Measurements

The primary

SUBMITTER: Loeb M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9707441 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature