Prolonged wearing of a surgical face mask, made compulsory in many settings in many countries during the Covid years, reduces cognitive function and increases reaction time in addition to increasing shortness of breath and fatigue. These are the findings of a study published in Nurse Education in Practice, an international peer reviewed journal, on September 15th 2023.
The study, carried out in Turkey and titled ‘The effect of prolonged use of surgical masks during face-to-face teaching on cognitive and physiological parameters of nursing students: a cross-sectional and descriptive study’ involved 61 nursing students who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample size was determined to be adequate for the study using the statistical method of power analysis. Information was collected on cognitive fatigue and dyspnoea (shortness of breath) using a self-administered questionnaire and cognitive reaction time was measured objectively using an app. Body temperature and blood oxygen saturation were also measured.
The students were asked to complete the questionnaires and measure the above parameters at the start of a five-hour class and to repeat the process at the end. Surgical face masks were worn for the duration of the class. With the exception of blood oxygen saturation, all the remaining parameters were adversely and statistically significantly affected over the course of the class.
At the end of the class, the students reported greater shortness of breath, cognitive fatigue and had demonstrably slower reaction times. They experienced a rise in body temperature which is an established correlate of physical fatigue.
The authors of the study are careful to point out that the design of their study was a pre-test/post-test where the participants were, effectively, acting as their own controls. It is possible, therefore, that alternative explanations may exist to explain the observations. For example, we do not know if or to what extent the observed changes in parameters may have taken place anyway after five hours in class. For that reason, as recommended by the authors, further study is required of these phenomena using a parallel control group who undergo the five-hour class but who are not subjected to wearing surgical face masks for the duration. The reported study was carried out under Covid restrictions, therefore, there was no possibility of incorporating a control group.
Assuming that the outcome of the study does provide evidence for the adverse effects of face masks then further study should be conducted. Furthermore, the implications of the study could be very important if transposed to clinical practice. Prolonged wearing of surgical (and even more restrictive) face masks was compulsory during Covid restrictions. The ramifications for the ability of clinicians to make the correct decisions and to act quickly in emergency situations are surely worrying.
Declaration of interests: the author is Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.
Dr. Roger Watson is Academic Dean of Nursing at Southwest Medical University, China. He has a PhD in biochemistry. He writes in a personal capacity.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Oh dear! People who wear them thinking that they are somehow “preventing the spread of covid” and that this is a worthwhile or feasible objective already show signs of decreased cognitive function.
Sadly, when I read there was no control group I realised the study is effectively worthless. For all i believe face masks are useless and hazardous, to stick them on a bunch of volunteers and ask them if they feel more tired or breathless at the end doesn’t tell me anything very objective… or even subjective, in comparison to volunteers without masks.
Thanks for your kind words; science proceeds in small steps. If they had done the same study and found they were all tickityboo after 5 hours with no change in and of the four parameters that changed (that in itself is a fairly low probability outcome) then it would be game over for this line of inquiry (ie there is no decline in cognitive function or reaction time – objectively measured – even wearing a mask) and we could all go home. Thus the recommendation of the authors – and mine – that we investigate further.
I’d say face muzzles are a sign of cognitive dysfunction. Saw a box of masks at the entrance to the hospital today, with a small sign saying visitors were welcome to take one. Not a single person, visitor, patient or staff member did I see wear one. Early days but a positive sign nontheless. Now if that were the NHS there’d be science-denying Nazi bouncer on the front door!
”What do burkas, tichels, yarmulkes, hijabs, kapps, fezzes, dukus, and surgical masks all have in common? Religious cultures mandate or strongly encourage these head coverings to comply with dogma. Although most of these are rooted in ethnic and religious traditions of any denomination to reflect humility before G-d and modesty before man, surgical masks have become the morality trend of the Western world for those who fear The Science before they fear any god.
Recalling my extreme parallel of religious head coverings to surgical masks, compare this scenario: one day, the bureaucrats in Washington decide that for public health and decency, everyone must wear a burka. The land would cry, “Foul!” Non-muslim citizens would lose their minds that Sharia law was being imposed on them in violation of their First Amendment right to be free from the establishment of religion! Only the worshippers of the public health fascists would gladly adorn the dress as a testament to their true belief that the burka would save them from illness. I ask you, how is our current masking guidelines any different? Because masking is not a teaching from an institutionalized religion? Is trusting The Science not a form of having faith?”
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-religion-of-masking/
…if that were the NHS there’d be science-denying Nazi bouncer on the front door!
Not really. Mrs SoR had to go to Hammersmith Hosp for a day in late June this year. Yes, there were masks and signs asking people to take and wear one – but very few did. No Nazi bouncer – but perhaps he/she/it was on tea break.
So true indeed. They are all all about power and control over others.
The parallels with burkas are really quite interesting. I will never forget in 2020, when Ms. Magazine in the USA wrote an article called “The Feminist Case for a National Mask Mandate”. I mean, since when is there anything even remotely feminist about forcing people to cover their faces? Strange bedfellows indeed!
One of the things I did notice was the opportunism with certain traders, selling junk for a margin. I never used one at all, declaring exemption right from the word go. I did have a look at one of the products on sale at my normal supermarket, and they had tiny little labels on the back (printed in something like font size 6 or less – most people need a magnifying glass for that), which said that they are not surgical masks or whatever. In other words, these are not sold for medical purposes (to avoid being done under trading standards, most likely).
Apart from the disputes about their capability, or not, of transmitting any hazardous compounds, the loss of vision of the wearers face DOES cause communication problems, both with normal people, and all the more so with those with poor hearing.
…selling junk for a margin.
Hell yes! If those things that we could buy in the supermarket were surgical masks, the NHS could save a fortune buying them from Aldi! The NHS wouldn’t even have to pay more for a rainbow (sort of) on the packaging.
That’s terrible – mask wearers were people with decreased cognitive functions already, so they really are hit with a double whammy.
Fauci at one point recommended two masks! 2 x 0 = ?
Shock! Study finds five hour lectures decrease cognitive function and increase fatigue!
That really explains a lot, lol.