Existing evidence suggests that face covering does not lead to false security

According to researchers at the University of Cambridge, wearing a face cover to protect against COVID-19 does not give a false sense of security and increases the risk of infection for the wearer over other behaviors such as hand hygiene. Limited existing evidence that it is unlikely Kings College London.

Writing BMJ analysis, Researchers said that the concept of “risk compensation” public health Because it can discourage policy makers from implementing potentially effective measures, such as wearing face covers.

To reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19, it is mandatory or recommended in more than 160 countries to wear face covers, especially in shared indoor spaces. When worn properly, face coverings can reduce the spread of the virus as part of a range of protective measures, including maintaining physical distance from others and maintaining hand hygiene.

The degree of effectiveness of face coverings is not clear, but scientists encourage policymakers to wear face coverings, as the risks are minimal and the significant impact is significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am asking you to.

But early in the pandemic, the World Health Organization warned that wearing a face cover “creates a false sense of security and neglects other important measures such as hand hygiene.” This type of behavior is known as “risk compensation”.

A team led by Professor Dame Theresa Marteau of the University of Cambridge’s Behavior and Health Research Unit will examine evidence of risk compensation to justify concerns in the context of face covering and reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections. I checked if I could do it.

The idea behind risk compensation is to coordinate actions so that people have a comfortable target level of risk and maintain that level of risk. At the individual level, risk compensation is common. For example, people run long to offset long-awaited luxury meals, and cyclists wear helmets and cycle fast.

At the population level, evidence of risk compensation is less clear. A commonly cited example is that it is compulsory to wear bicycle helmets, leading to an increase in bicycle injuries and deaths. Another well-cited example is that the introduction of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and HPV vaccination have led to an increase in unprotected sex.

Professor Marteau and colleagues state that the results of the latest systematic review, a method that involves investigating all available evidence on a topic, do not justify risk compensation concerns in either of these cases. I will. In fact, HPV vaccination was found to have the opposite effect. Vaccinated individuals are less likely to engage in unprotected sexual behavior, as measured by sexually transmitted infection rates.

At least 22 systematic reviews have evaluated the impact of wearing masks on the transmission of respiratory viral infections. These include 6 studies involving a total of 2,000 households. This was done in a local environment and hand hygiene was also measured. Although no studies have been designed to assess risk compensation or study social distances, their results suggest that wearing a mask does not reduce the frequency of handwashing and hand sanitization. In fact, in two studies, self-reported handwashing rates were higher in the groups assigned to wearing masks.

The team also discovered three observational studies showing that they tend to stay away from those who wear masks. This suggests that the face covering does not at least adversely affect the body distance around the wearer. However, they say that none of these studies have been peer-reviewed and should be treated with caution.

“The concept of risk compensation, rather than risk compensation itself, appears to be a greater threat to public health by delaying effective interventions that can help prevent the spread of the disease,” Marteau said. Told.

“Many public health organizations have come to the conclusion that wearing a face cover can help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and the limited evidence available indicates that its use may It does not have a negative impact on hygiene.” The author is Dr. James Rubin of Psychiatry School at King’s College London.

In their article, the team claims that it’s time to take risks compensation The theory of resting. Professor Barry Press of McGill University in Montreal, Canada once described it as a “dead horse that no longer needs to be defeated.” The authors say, “This dead horse now needs to be buried to prevent the continued threat to public health by delaying the adoption of more effective interventions.”