Surgical Mask Use in Physical Ecercise in Young Healthy Subjects Sume Trial

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of surgical masks has become the new normal. The use of these devices in exercise and medical situations has been advocated with the purpose of reducing contagions, but some concerns exist regarding its impact of physical fitness and safety of use. If the use of mask while exercising can cause decreased functional capacity or dangerous hypoxemia is still something we know little of. Therefore, we performed maximal treadmill stress tests in 12 healthy young subjects, with and without surgical mask use, and measured exercise capacity, oxygen saturation (rest, peak exercise and post-exercise) and electrocardiographic changes on a standard treadmill test. Exercise capacity and oxygen saturation levels decreased in peak exercise vs rest in a statistically significant manner when mask was used. ECG changes, although not significant, were present in 3 subjects when mask was used and disappeared when the test was made unmasked. We concluded that masked exercise has the potential to cause decreased exercise load and oxygen saturation and potentially cause diagnostic errors in medical exams.