2022/07/31 by Bedir Alihsan, Arrianna Mohammed, Yash B. Bisen +3 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Mathematics · Medicine · #COVID-19 and healthcare impacts #COVID-19 epidemiological studies #Infection Control and Ventilation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1101/2022.07.28.22278153
openalex publication_date 2022/07/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Abstract Facemasks have become a symbol of disease prevention in the context of COVID-19; yet, there still exists a paucity of collected scientific evidence surrounding their epidemiological efficacy in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. This systematic review sought to analyze the efficacy of facemasks, regardless of type, on the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in both healthcare and community settings. The initial review yielded 1732 studies, which were reviewed by three study team members. Sixty-one full text studies were found to meet entry criteria, and 13 studies yielded data that was used in the final analysis. In all, 243 subjects were infected with COVID-19, of whom 97 had been wearing masks and 146 had not. The probability of getting COVID-19 for mask wearers was 7% (97/1463, p=0.002), for non-mask wearers, probability was 52% (158/303, p=0.94). The Relative Risk of getting COVID-19 for mask wearers was 0.13 (95% CI: 0.10-0.16). Based on these results, we determined that across healthcare and community settings, those who wore masks were less likely to contact COVID-19. Future investigations are warranted as more information becomes available.