Efficacy of under-mask beard covers in quantitative fit testing of tight-fitting disposable respirators
WorkSafeBC Evidence-Based Practice Group, Martin CW
Record ID 32018005173
English
Authors' objectives:
To determine whether there is evidence to support the efficacy of under-mask beard covers in quantitative fit testing of tight-fitting disposable respirators.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Seven studies were retrieved in full; three were excluded due to incorrect study design, and one was an ongoing trial. Therefore, there are three new published studies that are relevant to this systematic review. A description of study characteristics of included studies is available in Table 1 (can be found in the full version of our paper). We found that study quality was very low in all included studies. There is some very low level, lower quality preliminary evidence for the use of under-mask beard covers in improving the efficacy of tight-fitting respirators for individuals with facial hair. However, without controlled studies, statistical significance was not able to be shown. Across all studies, there was no standard protocol for quantitative fit testing as studies used both different testing protocols as well as different standards for ‘passing/failing’ the fit testing. There is no high-quality evidence supporting the efficacy and/or effectiveness of under-mask beard covers in quantitative fit testing of tight-fitting disposable respirators. At least one additional higher quality, controlled study is ongoing and awaiting results.
Authors' methods:
A systematic literature search was conducted on commercial medical literature databases on May 26, 2023. The search was undertaken by employing combinations of keywords (full search strategies seen in Appendix 2). No limitations on date of publication were implemented in any of these searches. A manual search was also conducted on the references of the articles that were retrieved in full.
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/evidence-based-medicine-and-systematic-reviews
Year Published:
2023
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Mini HTA
Country:
Canada
MeSH Terms
- N95 Respirators
- COVID-19
- SARS-CoV-2
- Coronavirus Infections
- Respiratory Protective Devices
- Masks
Keywords
- mask
- personal protective equipment
- fit test
- respirator
- singh thatta
- beard cover
Contact
Organisation Name:
WorkSafeBC
Contact Address:
6591 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC, V7C 1C6 Canada. Tel: 604-231-8417; Fax: 604-279-7698
Contact Name:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Contact Email:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Copyright:
WorkSafe BC
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.