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. 2020 Aug 24;109(12):1597. doi: 10.1007/s00392-020-01726-6

Response to the letter to the editor by Kampert et al. entitled “Impact of wearing a facial covering on aerobic exercise capacity in the COVID-19 Era: is it more than a feeling?”

Sven Fikenzer 1,, T Uhe 1, D Lavall 1, U Rudolph 1, R Falz 2, M Busse 2, P Hepp 3, U Laufs 1
PMCID: PMC7444170  PMID: 32833179

Kampert et al. express questions regarding (1) the measurement of pulmonary function, (2) listing of the data, (3) and a model of blood flow redistribution at peak exercise described by Harms et al. In addition, (4) they comment on the peak metabolic demand of the three conditions.

Ad 1: During CPET, VE sm: −12.0 ± 12.6%, ffpm: −23.1 ± 13.6%, p = 0.001, tidal volume sm −9.9 ± 11.3% and ffpm: −14.4 ± 13.0%, p = 0.016, inhalation time sm: +12 ± 15%, ffpm: +19 ± 16%, p < 0.001, compared to nm.

Ad 2: The complete results are listed in Tables 2 and 3.

Ad 3: Harms et al. (1998) were cited describing possible changes in the distribution of total blood flow with additional work of breathing (e.g. higher breathing resistance) [1].

Ad 4: At maximum load, the metabolic demands were similar in all three conditions. The respiratory exchange ratio (RER) did not differ between the tests (nm 1.13 ± 0.08, sm 1.15 ± 0.09, ffpm 1.13 ± 0.08, one-way ANOVA p = 0.596).

A straightforward way to get a feeling for the clear results of the study could be to personally try out the effects of sm and ffpm during exercise.

Funding

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Footnotes

The original online version of this article was revised due to a retrospective Open Access order.

Change history

11/19/2021

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s00392-021-01966-0

Reference

  • 1.Harms CA, Wetter TJ, McClaran SR, Pegelow DF, Nickele GA, Nelson WB, Hanson P, Dempsey JA. Effects of respiratory muscle work on cardiac output and its distribution during maximal exercise. J Appl Physiol. 1998;85(2):609–618. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1998.85.2.609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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