Summary of findings 9. Modified personal protective equipment (PPE): mask plus tabs versus standard masks.
| Mask tabs compared to no mask tabs for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare workers | ||||||
| Patient or population: healthcare workers Setting: simulation study Intervention: mask tabs Comparison: no mask tabs | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | Number of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with No mask tabs | Risk with Mask tabs | |||||
| Contamination of mask from hands | 1000 per 1000 | 330 per 1000 (140 to 800) | RR 0.33 (0.14 to 0.80) | 20 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very low1,2,3 | Analyses presented in this table are unadjusted for the paired nature of the cross‐over design but similar to the results that the study authors presented while taking the cross‐over into account. |
| Contamination of head from hands | 867 per 1000 | 832 per 1000 (719 to 971) | RR 0.96 (0.83 to 1.12) | 20 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very low1,2,3 | Analyses presented in this table are unadjusted for the paired nature of the cross‐over design but similar to the results that the study authors presented while taking the cross‐over into account. |
| *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; RCT: randomised controlled trial; RR: risk ratio | ||||||
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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. | ||||||
1The randomisation procedure was unclear and the cross‐over procedure was unclear so we downgraded by one level because of study limitations. 2This is a simulation study so we downgraded by one level because of indirectness. 3One study only with 20 participants and so we downgraded by one level because of imprecision.