Abstract
Background: In Japan, sanitary masks have proven useful in ameliorating common cold symptoms, but scientific findings remain largely to be defined.
Subjects and Methods: We randomly allocated 72 subjects with common colds at our medical institutes to 2 groups—32 wearing sanitary masks on a 24-hour basis until symptoms had completely disappeared and 40 (control group) wearing masks during daytime alone. Over a 1-week course, subjects filled out symptom questionnaires daily before bed and after rising. We then compared clinical effects on a visual-analog scale for sore and dry throat, cough and sputum, and cold contraction.
Results: Statistically, subjects with 24-hour mask wear got well more quickly (p<0.05) than those in the control group, and cough and sputum scores were significantly reduced (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Sanitary-mask wear during sleep appears to reduce common cold symptoms.
