Awareness, Preferences, and Consequences of Mask Usage among MBBS Students

Abstract

Background: Research studies have shown that the wearing mask for more than 4 hours could lead to Nasal, Skin,
Pressure, and other miscellaneous symptoms.
MBBS students tend to use masks for longer duration than any other set of people.
There is limited evidence of adverse effects of prolonged mask usage among MBBS students.This study was
conducted with objectives to:To assess the knowledge, practice and preferences of mask usage, to estimate the
prevalence and determine the adverse effects of prolonged mask wearing among MBBS students.
Material and Methods: This is a Cross sectional study conducted among 313 MBBS Students of ESIC Medical
College and Hospital, Kalaburagi, through an online semi-structured Questionnaire. The collected information is
analyzed using MS Excel and SPSS software.
Conclusion: In this study it was observed that the knowledge and practice among participants were positively
correlated and most of the consequences were negatively correlated with the practice. Thus, participants with
good knowledge and practice scores had few complaints while wearing mask for prolonged hours.