ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT04789603Updated May 11, 2021

Effects of Using Mask During the 6-minute Walking Test in Times of COVID-19

An interventional study of 6-min-walk surgical mask and 6-min-walk Fpp2 in Pulmonary Disease, Covid19 and Physical Disability, sponsored by Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. Status unknown at 2 sites in Spain. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-05-11.

Sponsored by Universitat Internacional de Catalunya · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Mar 2021), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Since the beginning of the pandemic caused by SARC-CoV 2, more than 81 million cases have been diagnosed and caused around 1,7 million deaths. Currently, a drug is being sought for the treatment of coronavirus. The worldwide effort to create an effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine is beginning to yield results. Several vaccines now have been authorized around the globe; many more remain in development. Nonetheless, in the absence of effective pharmacological treatment and given the virus's transmission capacity, different alternatives have been proposed to stop the transmission of the virus. Therefore, these preventive measures against transmission are expected to remain in force for some time.

The transmission of the virus occurs from person-to-person; different studies conclude that transmission occurs by aerosols from respiratory droplets. The optimal distance between people to stop person-to-person transmission is uncertain. For this reason and given that there is no effective drug, transmission prevention is of great importance especially for pandemic mitigation in community settings.

The World Health Organization (WHO) established simple precautions to prevent the spread of the virus such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. For this reason, the use of the mask has been proposed in several countries, being mandatory in many of them, for use in the health environment and daily use.

The WHO recommends different types of masks depending on the person, where it will be used, or the population incidence in the area. Wearing a medical /surgical mask is recommended for people over 60, those who have underlying medical conditions, feel unwell, and/or look after an ill family member. For health workers, respirator masks (such as FFP2, FFP3, N95, N99) should be used in settings where procedures are generating aerosols.

The use of a mask could imply an inspiratory and expiratory restraint and generate a feeling of discomfort in many people. It is responsible for an increase in the inspiratory and expiratory pressures generated. This feeling of discomfort and the increment of pressures causes shallow and forced breathing and increases the respiratory accessory musculature activation.

Person et al. observed that the subjects who used a mask felt dyspnea clinically and significantly higher than those who did not use it. However, to our knowledge, no study has analyzed the parameters of physical effort, respiratory parameters, self-perceived dyspnea, and muscle activation using different types of masks in healthy subjects. For this reason, the present study hypothesis is that there are no changes between wearing and not-wearing a mask (surgical or N-95) in the effort and ventilatory parameters, even though there may be an increase in the tone of the cervical muscles or the perception of dyspnea using a face mask.

This study aims to observe the effect that the surgical mask and the N-95 mask have in the distance walked, in the oxygenometry, in the heart rate, in the sensation of dyspnea, and the tone of the inspiratory accessory muscles during the 6 minutes walking test.

Procedure After verifying that the subjects meet the inclusion criteria and sign the consent, they will be given a registration number. An investigator will observe the number in a random list and included the participant in one of the three groups (without a mask, with a surgical mask, and with N95 mask). This researcher will make an initial registration of demographic data (gender, age, weight, height, cardiorespiratory pathology, smoker, number of cigarettes per day, a sport performed, hours of daily sport, and days of sport per week). Before the test, all the subjects will have to remain for 30 minutes without a mask, breathing normally. This phase will be called the resting phase. Subsequently, the subjects will go to the area where the 6MWT will be carried out. Each one of them will be performed the test according to the group to which they will be assigned. An investigator, blinded to the subsequent assessment, will encourage the participants to take the 6MWT according to the recommendations mentioned above. After performing the 6MWT, all subjects will go to the assessment area. All the subjects will wear a surgical mask so that the researcher can not know to which group they have been assigned. Besides, this researcher will not have access to the registration number or the 6-minute walking test area.

At the end of each resting phase, SpO2 and baseline HR will be recorded. After every 6MWT, the HR, SpO2, and self-perceived dyspnea will be recorded. The muscle tone will also be assessed with the MyotonPRO in middle scalene and SCM.

Subjects will have the option of retaking the test, going through all the phases mentioned above.

Read the detailed description

Since the beginning of the pandemic caused by SARC-CoV 2, more than 81 million cases have been diagnosed and caused around 1,7 million deaths. Currently, a drug is being sought for the treatment of coronavirus. The worldwide effort to create an effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine is beginning to yield results. Several vaccines now have been authorized around the globe; many more remain in development. Nonetheless, in the absence of effective pharmacological treatment and given the virus's transmission capacity, different alternatives have been proposed to stop the transmission of the virus. Therefore, these preventive measures against transmission are expected to remain in force for some time.

The transmission of the virus occurs from person-to-person; different studies conclude that transmission occurs by aerosols from respiratory droplets. The optimal distance between people to stop person-to-person transmission is uncertain. For this reason and given that there is no effective drug, transmission prevention is of great importance especially for pandemic mitigation in community settings.

The World Health Organization (WHO) established simple precautions to prevent the spread of the virus such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. For this reason, the use of the mask has been proposed in several countries, being mandatory in many of them, for use in the health environment and daily use.

The WHO recommends different types of masks depending on the person, where it will be used, or the population incidence in the area. Wearing a medical /surgical mask is recommended for people over 60, those who have underlying medical conditions, feel unwell, and/or look after an ill family member. For health workers, respirator masks (such as FFP2, FFP3, N95, N99) should be used in settings where procedures are generating aerosols.

The use of a mask could imply an inspiratory and expiratory restraint and generate a feeling of discomfort in many people. It is responsible for an increase in the inspiratory and expiratory pressures generated. This feeling of discomfort and the increment of pressures causes shallow and forced breathing and increases the respiratory accessory musculature activation.

Person et al. observed that the subjects who used a mask felt dyspnea clinically and significantly higher than those who did not use it. However, to our knowledge, no study has analyzed the parameters of physical effort, respiratory parameters, self-perceived dyspnea, and muscle activation using different types of masks in healthy subjects. For this reason, the present study hypothesis is that there are no changes between wearing and not-wearing a mask (surgical or N-95) in the effort and ventilatory parameters, even though there may be an increase in the tone of the cervical muscles or the perception of dyspnea using a face mask.

This study aims to observe the effect that the surgical mask and the N-95 mask have in the distance walked, in the oxygenometry, in the heart rate, in the sensation of dyspnea, and the tone of the inspiratory accessory muscles during the 6 minutes walking test.

Procedure After verifying that the subjects meet the inclusion criteria and sign the consent, they will be given a registration number. An investigator will observe the number in a random list and included the participant in one of the three groups (without a mask, with a surgical mask, and with N95 mask). This researcher will make an initial registration of demographic data (gender, age, weight, height, cardiorespiratory pathology, smoker, number of cigarettes per day, a sport performed, hours of daily sport, and days of sport per week). Before the test, all the subjects will have to remain for 30 minutes without a mask, breathing normally. This phase will be called the resting phase. Subsequently, the subjects will go to the area where the 6MWT will be carried out. Each one of them will be performed the test according to the group to which they will be assigned. An investigator, blinded to the subsequent assessment, will encourage the participants to take the 6MWT according to the recommendations mentioned above. After performing the 6MWT, all subjects will go to the assessment area. All the subjects will wear a surgical mask so that the researcher can not know to which group they have been assigned. Besides, this researcher will not have access to the registration number or the 6-minute walking test area.

At the end of each resting phase, SpO2 and baseline HR will be recorded. After every 6MWT, the HR, SpO2, and self-perceived dyspnea will be recorded. The muscle tone will also be assessed with the MyotonPRO in middle scalene and SCM.

Subjects will have the option of retaking the test, going through all the phases mentioned above.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pulmonary Disease
  • Covid19
  • Physical Disability

Keywords

  • covid-19
  • muscle tone
  • mask
03

In context

Lung Diseases

3,320 studies on the registry are indexed under Lung Diseases; 355 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 71 across 2,122 interventional studies indexed under Lung Diseases.

Browse Lung Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

Universitat Internacional de Catalunya is the lead sponsor of 150 studies on the registry; 45 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age> 18 years
  • Being able to perform the 6 min-walk-test-

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cardiac-respiratory diseases
  • Red flags.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Without Mask Group

    Patients who will perform the 6-min walk test without mask

    Other: 6-min-walk without mask

  • Active comparator
    Surgical Mask

    Patients who will perform the 6-min walk test with surgical mask

    Other: 6-min-walk surgical mask

  • Experimental
    Fpp2 Mask

    Patients who will perform the 6-min walk test with Fpp2 mask

    Other: 6-min-walk Fpp2

Interventions

  • Other6-min-walk surgical mask

    To walk as fast as possible without running for 6 minutes with surgical mask

  • Other6-min-walk Fpp2

    To walk as fast as possible without running for 6 minutes with Fpp2 mask

  • Other6-min-walk without mask

    To walk as fast as possible without running for 6 minutes without mask

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 6 minutes walk test (minutes)

    The volunteers had to walk as fast as possible without running for 6 minutes. Each minute, the subjects will be encouraged to continue at the same pace and not stop

    Time frame: Change between baseline (immediately before intervention) and post intervention (immediately after intervention)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Dyspnea using the visual analogue scale (VAS) (cms)

    Dyspnea sensation in the visual analogue scale (0 to 100 cms).

    Time frame: Change between baseline(immediately before intervention) and post intervention (immediately after intervention)

  2. Heart Rate (b/min)

    With a pulse oximeter (b/min).

    Time frame: Change between baseline(immediately before intervention) and post intervention (immediately after intervention)

  3. Transcutaneous oxygen saturation (% of saturation)

    With a pulse oximeter (SpO2).

    Time frame: Change between baseline(immediately before intervention) and post intervention (immediately after intervention)

  4. Frequency Muscle tone with MyotonePRO device (Hz)

    The Myoton PRO device will be used to register the respiratory accessory muscle tone. This handheld device was designed to assess the muscle and its characteristics. A brief mechanical impulse on the skin generates a natural oscillation of the tissues that cushion it.

    Time frame: Change between baseline and post intervention (1 month), after 3 months and after 6 months

  5. Dynamic Stiffness Muscle tone with MyotonePRO device (N/m)

    The Myoton PRO device will be used to register the respiratory accessory muscle tone. This handheld device was designed to assess the muscle and its characteristics. A brief mechanical impulse on the skin generates a natural oscillation of the tissues that cushion it.

    Time frame: Change between baseline and post intervention (1 month), after 3 months and after 6 months

  6. Muscle viscoelasticy with MyotonePRO device (ms)

    The Myoton PRO device will be used to register the respiratory accessory muscle tone. This handheld device was designed to assess the muscle and its characteristics. A brief mechanical impulse on the skin generates a natural oscillation of the tissues that cushion it.

    Time frame: Change between baseline and post intervention (1 month), after 3 months and after 6 months

07

Study locations

1 of 2 sites recruiting
  • Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
    Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona 08195, Spain
    Completed
  • Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
    Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
    • Albert Pérez-Bellmunt, Dr · Contact
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 11, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04789603
Responsible party
Jacobo Rodríguez Sanz (Principal Investigator, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 9, 2021
Start date
May 10, 2021 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jun 1, 2021 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 1, 2021 (estimated)
Last update
May 11, 2021

Study contacts

Jacobo Rodríguez-Sanz, PhD
Contact
jrodriguezs@uic.es
+34636136789
Carlos López-de-Celis, PhD
Contact
carlesldc@uic.es
+34606806767
Albert Pérez-Bellmunt, PhD
study director · Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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