Table 6.
Evidence Profile: Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (+N95) vs N95 in Health Care Workers During Gastrointestinal Procedures
| Variable | Certainty assessment |
Patients, n (%) |
Effect, RR (95% CI) |
Certainty | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of studies | Study design | Risk of bias | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations | PARP | N95 | Relative | Absolute | ||
| Efficiency in particulate air | 1 | Observational studies | Not serious | Not serious | Not serious | Seriousa | None | High-efficiency particulate air filters filter at least 99.97% of particles 0.3 μm in diameter, compared to N95 masks that filter at least 95% of aerosol (<5 μm) | □□□◯ MODERATE | |||
| Contaminated areas on face and neck | 1 | Observational studies | Not serious | Not serious | Not serious | Very seriousb | None | 4/150 (2.7) | 59/150 (39.3) | 0.08 (0.03 to 0.19) | 362 fewer per 1000 (382 fewer to 319 fewer) | □□◯◯ LOW |
a
Only 1 study.
b
Very small number of events.