• Xiao Xia, Shixu Liu, Kun Xia, Yanyi Liu, Jinzhi Zhang, Xiaohong Liu, Yuhao Yao, and Guangxi Li.
• Guanganmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Jan 20; 102 (3): e32669e32669.

BackgroundWith the Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, wearing a mask has become routine to prevent and control the virus's spread, especially for healthcare workers. However, the impact of long-term mask wear on the human body has not been adequately investigated. This study aimed to investigate whether Powered Air Purifying Respirators and N95 masks impact the olfaction in healthcare workers.MethodsWe recruited fifty-six healthcare workers and randomly divided them into 2 groups, wearing a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) (experiment group, N = 28) and an N95 mask (control group, N = 28). Olfactory discrimination and threshold tests were performed before and after wearing the masks. SPSS 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois) software was used for the statistical analyses.ResultsThere was a statistical difference in the olfactory threshold test after wearing the mask in both PAPR Group (Z = -2.595, P = .009) and N95 Group (Z = -2.120, P = .034), with no significant difference between the 2 (χ2 = 0.29, P = .589). There was no statistical difference in the discrimination test scores in both 2 groups after wearing the masks.ConclusionWearing a mask affects the healthcare workers' olfaction, especially odor sensitivity. Healthcare workers have a higher olfactory threshold after long-term mask wear, whether wearing PAPRs or N95 masks.Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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