Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Facemasks are worn in many industries to protect from infections and harmful substances. Asian countries historically have a wide adoption of facemasks; though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, facemask wearing is also common in western countries. The lower visual field...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324333 |
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| author | Timmion K Skervin Toby J Ellmers Elmar C Kal William R Young Rebecca L Walker Emily Wharton Neil M Thomas Constantinos N Maganaris Mark A Hollands Richard J Foster |
| author_facet | Timmion K Skervin Toby J Ellmers Elmar C Kal William R Young Rebecca L Walker Emily Wharton Neil M Thomas Constantinos N Maganaris Mark A Hollands Richard J Foster |
| author_sort | Timmion K Skervin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>Facemasks are worn in many industries to protect from infections and harmful substances. Asian countries historically have a wide adoption of facemasks; though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, facemask wearing is also common in western countries. The lower visual field provides important information for safe stair negotiation. A loose fit facemask may obstruct the lower visual field and negatively affect stair negotiation. Pinching a facemask nose clip provides contour around the nose which may reduce lower visual occlusion and negative stair behaviour effects. Here, we explored the effect of wearing a Type IIR facemask and nose clip pinch adjustment on lower visual field occlusion and stair walking behaviour.<h4>Method</h4>Eight young adults ascended and descended stairs with; 1) no facemask, 2) unadjusted facemask, 3) customised facemask (nose clip pinched). Measurements included peak head flexion, lower visual field occlusion, stair duration, foot clearance, foot placement, margins of stability, Conscious Movement Processing and anxiety.<h4>Results</h4>Unadjusted increased lower visual occlusion during descent (unadjusted = 32° ± 14° vs no facemask = 11° ± 14°, p < 0.001), (unadjusted vs customised = 21° ± 15°, p = 0.009) and ascent (unadjusted = 47° ± 12° vs no facemask = 25° ± 11°, p < 0.001), (unadjusted vs customised = 35° ± 11°, p = 0.005). Unadjusted increased conscious movement processing during descent (unadjusted = 16 ± 5 vs no face mask 11 ± 4, p = 0.040) and ascent (unadjusted = 16 ± 5 vs no face mask = 10 ± 3, p = 0.044). Bayesian inference indicated moderate evidence for the alternative hypothesis for descent duration, peak head flexion and anxiety. Anecdotal and strong evidence for the alternative hypothesis were found for ascent duration and anxiety respectively. No differences were found in foot kinematics or margins of stability.<h4>Discussion</h4>Simple adjustments (pinching the nose clip) to a Type IIR facemask have the benefit of reducing the lower visual field occlusion an unadjusted mask creates, and helps improve stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9817ff98cf549d6b9cb04e4b8feb4c1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9817ff98cf549d6b9cb04e4b8feb4c12025-08-20T03:48:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01205e032433310.1371/journal.pone.0324333Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults.Timmion K SkervinToby J EllmersElmar C KalWilliam R YoungRebecca L WalkerEmily WhartonNeil M ThomasConstantinos N MaganarisMark A HollandsRichard J Foster<h4>Introduction</h4>Facemasks are worn in many industries to protect from infections and harmful substances. Asian countries historically have a wide adoption of facemasks; though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, facemask wearing is also common in western countries. The lower visual field provides important information for safe stair negotiation. A loose fit facemask may obstruct the lower visual field and negatively affect stair negotiation. Pinching a facemask nose clip provides contour around the nose which may reduce lower visual occlusion and negative stair behaviour effects. Here, we explored the effect of wearing a Type IIR facemask and nose clip pinch adjustment on lower visual field occlusion and stair walking behaviour.<h4>Method</h4>Eight young adults ascended and descended stairs with; 1) no facemask, 2) unadjusted facemask, 3) customised facemask (nose clip pinched). Measurements included peak head flexion, lower visual field occlusion, stair duration, foot clearance, foot placement, margins of stability, Conscious Movement Processing and anxiety.<h4>Results</h4>Unadjusted increased lower visual occlusion during descent (unadjusted = 32° ± 14° vs no facemask = 11° ± 14°, p < 0.001), (unadjusted vs customised = 21° ± 15°, p = 0.009) and ascent (unadjusted = 47° ± 12° vs no facemask = 25° ± 11°, p < 0.001), (unadjusted vs customised = 35° ± 11°, p = 0.005). Unadjusted increased conscious movement processing during descent (unadjusted = 16 ± 5 vs no face mask 11 ± 4, p = 0.040) and ascent (unadjusted = 16 ± 5 vs no face mask = 10 ± 3, p = 0.044). Bayesian inference indicated moderate evidence for the alternative hypothesis for descent duration, peak head flexion and anxiety. Anecdotal and strong evidence for the alternative hypothesis were found for ascent duration and anxiety respectively. No differences were found in foot kinematics or margins of stability.<h4>Discussion</h4>Simple adjustments (pinching the nose clip) to a Type IIR facemask have the benefit of reducing the lower visual field occlusion an unadjusted mask creates, and helps improve stair safety characteristics in young adults.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324333 |
| spellingShingle | Timmion K Skervin Toby J Ellmers Elmar C Kal William R Young Rebecca L Walker Emily Wharton Neil M Thomas Constantinos N Maganaris Mark A Hollands Richard J Foster Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. PLoS ONE |
| title | Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| title_full | Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| title_short | Exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults. |
| title_sort | exploring the effects of wearing facemasks on stair safety characteristics in young adults |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324333 |
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