The effect of mask usage of the health personnel on blood gas analysis and cognitive strengthening during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Aim The coronavirus disease-19 has caused the death of more than five million people and the treatment of millions in intensive care units since 2019. In this process, the possibility of developing intermittent, long-term hypoxia and hypercarbia due to the use of masks has been considered in detail. Therefore, the negative physiological and psychological effects of this equipment in intensive care unit by healthcare personnel have become questionable. The present study is aimed to investigate the effect of mask use on blood gas analysis values and cognitive functions in intensive care unit healthcare workers. Materials and methods After obtaining local ethics committee approval (Grant number: …) and written informed consent, healthcare professionals working in the 3rd level intensive care unit of xxx City Training and Research Hospital were included in the study. Each volunteer's venous blood gas analysis were studied at the beginning and end of the eight-hour morning-shift period. Venous blood gas values including pH, venous partial oxygen pressure, venous partial carbon dioxide pressure, lactate levels were recorded. A five-question survey was applied to the same volunteers and their cognitive function performance during the pandemic period was evaluated. Results Intragroup comparisons for the N95 group revealed that pH-2nd measurement was found to be significantly higher than pH-1st measurement and Lactate-1st measurement was significantly higher than Lactate-2nd measurement (p = 0.002, p = 0.004, p = 0.002, p = 0.018, respectively. Conclusion Impairment in cognitive functions in intensive care workers using masks during the pandemic period can be explained by the development of intermittent long-term moderate hypoxia.