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. 2023 Dec;43(12):4991-4996.
doi: 10.1007/s10792-023-02902-z. Epub 2023 Oct 16.

Changes in pupil size, ocular wavefront aberrations, and accommodation in healthcare workers using FFP3 masks

Nimet Yesim Ercalik  1 , Esra Turkseven Kumral  2 , Mehmet Serhat Mangan  2 , Oksan Alpogan  2 , Serhat Imamoglu  2 , Alev Ozcelik Kose  2 , Hatice Tekcan  2
Affiliations

Changes in pupil size, ocular wavefront aberrations, and accommodation in healthcare workers using FFP3 masks

Nimet Yesim Ercalik et al. Int Ophthalmol. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate changes in pupil size, ocular wavefront aberrations (WA), and accommodation in healthcare workers after 4-h usage of Filtering Facepiece class 3 (FFP3) masks.

Material and methods: This prospective study included 22 healthy healthcare workers. Pupil size, ocular WA, and accommodation changes before and after FFP3 mask usage were evaluated using a Hartmann Schack aberrometer. Accommodative responses to stimulus ranging from 0 to 5 diopters (D) in increments of 0.5 D were assessed. Ocular high-order aberrations (HOAs) were recorded at baseline and at every accommodative stimulus. Oxygen saturation (SpO2) was measured by pulse oximetry before and after the mask usage.

Results: The mean age was 36.6 ± 8.5 years. The SpO2 significantly decreased from 98.95 to 97.95% after usage of the FFP3 mask (p < 0.001). The mean pupil size did not significantly differ before (6.22 ± 0.75 mm) and after (6.38 ± 0.83 mm) the 4-h mask usage (p = 0.093). The mean total RMS of the total HOAs was 0.36 ± 0.17 before and 0.39 ± 0.15 after the mask usage (p = 0.071). Post-mask accommodation showed a significant decrease at the 2 D (p = 0.041), 2.5D (p = 0.022), and 3 D (p = 0.025) stimuli.

Conclusion: The present study shows that after 4 h-usage of FFP3 mask, both SpO2 and accommodative response to increasing stimuli might be significantly decreased.

Keywords: Accommodation; FFP3 mask; Pupil size; Wavefront aberration.

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