Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers : A Randomized Controlled Trial
Henning Bundgaard, Johan Skov Bundgaard, Daniel Emil Tadeusz Raaschou-Pedersen, Christian von Buchwald, Tobias Todsen, Jakob Boesgaard Norsk, Mia M Pries-Heje, Christoffer Rasmus Vissing, Pernille B Nielsen, Ulrik C Winsløw, Kamille Fogh, Rasmus Hasselbalch, Jonas H Kristensen, Anna Ringgaard, Mikkel Porsborg Andersen, Nicole Bakkegård Goecke, Ramona Trebbien, Kerstin Skovgaard, Thomas Benfield, Henrik Ullum, Christian Torp-Pedersen, Kasper Iversen, Henning Bundgaard, Johan Skov Bundgaard, Daniel Emil Tadeusz Raaschou-Pedersen, Christian von Buchwald, Tobias Todsen, Jakob Boesgaard Norsk, Mia M Pries-Heje, Christoffer Rasmus Vissing, Pernille B Nielsen, Ulrik C Winsløw, Kamille Fogh, Rasmus Hasselbalch, Jonas H Kristensen, Anna Ringgaard, Mikkel Porsborg Andersen, Nicole Bakkegård Goecke, Ramona Trebbien, Kerstin Skovgaard, Thomas Benfield, Henrik Ullum, Christian Torp-Pedersen, Kasper Iversen
Abstract
Background: Observational evidence suggests that mask wearing mitigates transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is uncertain if this observed association arises through protection of uninfected wearers (protective effect), via reduced transmission from infected mask wearers (source control), or both.
Objective: To assess whether recommending surgical mask use outside the home reduces wearers' risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a setting where masks were uncommon and not among recommended public health measures.
Design: Randomized controlled trial (DANMASK-19 [Danish Study to Assess Face Masks for the Protection Against COVID-19 Infection]). (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04337541).
Setting: Denmark, April and May 2020.
Participants: Adults spending more than 3 hours per day outside the home without occupational mask use.
Intervention: Encouragement to follow social distancing measures for coronavirus disease 2019, plus either no mask recommendation or a recommendation to wear a mask when outside the home among other persons together with a supply of 50 surgical masks and instructions for proper use.
Measurements: The primary outcome was SARS-CoV-2 infection in the mask wearer at 1 month by antibody testing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or hospital diagnosis. The secondary outcome was PCR positivity for other respiratory viruses.
Results: A total of 3030 participants were randomly assigned to the recommendation to wear masks, and 2994 were assigned to control; 4862 completed the study. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 42 participants recommended masks (1.8%) and 53 control participants (2.1%). The between-group difference was -0.3 percentage point (95% CI, -1.2 to 0.4 percentage point; P = 0.38) (odds ratio, 0.82 [CI, 0.54 to 1.23]; P = 0.33). Multiple imputation accounting for loss to follow-up yielded similar results. Although the difference observed was not statistically significant, the 95% CIs are compatible with a 46% reduction to a 23% increase in infection.
Limitation: Inconclusive results, missing data, variable adherence, patient-reported findings on home tests, no blinding, and no assessment of whether masks could decrease disease transmission from mask wearers to others.
Conclusion: The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use. The data were compatible with lesser degrees of self-protection.
Primary funding source: The Salling Foundations.
Conflict of interest statement
Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M20-6817.
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