Effects of a Face Mask on Oxygenation During Exercise

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Hypoxemia
• Interventions: Other: Progressive cycling exercise test to exhaustion

• Registration Number: NCT04557605
• Lead Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan

Brief Summary

There is concern that wearing a face mask during COVID will affect oxygen uptake, especially during intense exercise. This study will assess the effect of wearing two different face masks (disposable and cloth) on blood and muscle oxygenation during cycling exercise.

Detailed Description

There is concern that wearing a face mask during exercise will reduce oxygen uptake or increase carbon dioxide re-breathing, which can result in low blood oxygen levels, reduced oxygen delivery to muscle and reduced exercise capacity. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of wearing two different types of commonly-worn face masks (diposable and cloth) during exercise on blood and muscle oxygenation. Twelve participants who are experienced with cycling will take part in this randomized cross-over study that will assess blood oxygenation (i.e. pulse oximetry) and muscle oxygenation (with near infrared spectroscopy) during a progressive step exercise test to exhaustion. The conditions include no mask, a disposable mask, and a cloth mask. Outcome variables include exercise duration, rating of perceived exertion, blood oxygen saturation levels, and oxygenated, deoxygenated, and total hemoglobin at the quadriceps muscle.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2020-09-09
• Study Start: 2020-09-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-09-15
• Study First Posted: 2020-09-21
• Status Verified: 2020-10
• Primary Completion: 2020-10-15
• Study Completion: 2020-10-15
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-10-16
• Last Update Posted: 2020-10-20

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 14

Inclusion Criteria

• Experienced with cycling

Exclusion Criteria

• Contra-indications to exercise as identified by a screening questionnaire (the "Get Active Questionnaire")

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Disposable face mask	Progressive cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Progressive step-exercise cycling test to exhaustion wearing a 3-ply disposable face mask
No face mask	Progressive cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Progressive step-exercise cycling test to exhaustion wearing no face mask
Cloth face mask	Progressive cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Progressive step-exercise cycling test to exhaustion wearing a cloth face mask

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Time to exhaustion during exercise	Up to 20 minutes	time to exhaustion
Change from baseline in peak power output	Up to 20 minutes	Peak power output in Watts, determined on a cycle ergometer

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change from baseline in blood oxygen saturation	Up to 20 minutes	Blood oxygen saturation as determined by pulse oximetry
Change from baseline in rating of perceived exertion	Up to 20 minutes	Rating of perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10 (Modified Borg Scale), a higher score indicates a greater perceived exertion
Change from baseline in quadriceps tissue oxygenation index	Up to 20 minutes	Tissue oxygenation index (oxygenated hemoglobin/total hemoglobin) as measured by near infra-red spectroscopy
Change from baseline in heart rate	Up to 20 minutes	Heart rate (beats per minute)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Saskatchewan; 🇨🇦 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada