Physiological Responses to Facemask Use during a Graded Treadmill Test in Healthy Male Adolescents and Young

we aimed to investigate the physiological impact of facemasks use during a graded treadmill exercise test in male adolescents and young adults.

Twenty-one males aged 15 to 28 volunteered. Participants completed four sessions with a 72-hour gap between each session. They completed four visits: 1 rest and 3 graded treadmill exercise test sessions no mask, surgical mask, and FFP2/N95 mask. Pre- and post-graded treadmill exercise test, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and blood oxygen saturation were measured. Repeated measures analysis of variance determined statistical differences (p<0.05).

There were no differences in exercise performance (e.g., time to termination, estimated VO2max) nor heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure between conditions. FFP2/N95 mask resulted in lower blood oxygen saturation compared to no mask and surgical mask, and the surgical mask was lower than no mask at exhaustion.

Participants could safely complete the graded treadmill exercise test without detriment to exercise performance even though blood oxygen saturation decreased with facemask use.