A Systematic Review of Whether the Use of N95 Respirator Masks Decreases the Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease in the General Population

Ameer Khan; Munir A Khan; Matthew Perry; Udai K Godhania; Omer J Khan; Aftab A Khan

doi:10.7759/cureus.29823

A Systematic Review of Whether the Use of N95 Respirator Masks Decreases the Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease in the General Population

Cureus. 2022 Oct 2;14(10):e29823. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29823. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Ameer Khan¹, Munir A Khan², Matthew Perry¹, Udai K Godhania³, Omer J Khan⁴, Aftab A Khan¹

Affiliations

¹ Cardiology, Tameside General Hospital, Ashton-Under-Lyne, GBR.
² Cardiology, University of Leeds, Faculty of Medicine, Leeds, GBR.
³ Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Craiova, Craiova, ROU.
⁴ Surgery, Fauji Foundation Hospital, Lahore, PAK.

Abstract

The usage of masks such as the N95 has increased exponentially worldwide. With the ever-increasing global rates of cardiovascular disease, it is vital that preventative measures are adopted to help tackle this crisis. N95 masks have been promoted as health prevention odysseys in the battle against viruses such as COVID-19. A systematic review was conducted on whether the N95 masks could help improve our cardiovascular health. Our data sources included PubMed, Medline and Scopus. Eleven studies met the eligibility criteria to be included in the review. N95 mask usage led to increased reports of dyspnoea, however, no significant effect was seen on blood pressure. N95 masks also showed improvement in aortic parameters. While encouraging results were yielded, further focussed studies on the use of N95 masks and the effect on various cardiovascular parameters would help strengthen the association.

Keywords: cardiovascular effects; cardiovascular implications; cardiovascular prevention; n95 respirators; public health education.

Publication types

Review