Summary of findings 8. Procedures: Mask tabs versus No mask tabs.
| Mask tabs compared to No mask tabs for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff | ||||||
| Patient or population: Preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff Setting: Intervention: Mask tabs Comparison: No mask tabs | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with No mask tabs | Risk with Mask tabs | |||||
| Contamination of mask from hands | Study population | RR 0.33 (0.14 to 0.80) | 20 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ VERY LOW 1 2 3 | Analyses presented in this table are unadjusted for the paired nature of the cross‐over design but similar to the results that the authors presented while taking the cross‐over into account | |
| 1,000 per 1,000 | 330 per 1,000 (140 to 800) | |||||
| Contamination of head from hands | Study population | RR 0.96 (0.83 to 1.12) | 120 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ VERY LOW 1 2 3 | Analyses presented in this table are unadjusted for the paired nature of the cross‐over design but similar to the results that the authors presented while taking the cross‐over into account | |
| 867 per 1,000 | 832 per 1,000 (719 to 971) | |||||
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: Confidence interval; RR: Risk ratio; OR: Odds ratio; | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect Moderate certainty: We are moderately confident in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different Low certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect Very low certainty: We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect | ||||||
1 The randomisation procedure was unclear and the cross‐over procedure was unclear so we downgraded with one level because of study limitations.
2 This is a simulation study so we downgraded with one level because of indirectness.
3 One study only with 20 participants and so we downgraded with one level because of imprecision.