Anxiety during respirator use: comparison of two respirator types

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bansal S ; Harber P ; Li Y ; Santiago S ; Wu S ; Yun D
• Description:
  Anxiety may interfere with proper respirator use. This study directly compares the effect of two types of respirators - elastomeric half-face mask with dual-cartridges (HFM) and N95 filtering facepiece - on anxiety levels. Twelve volunteers with normal or mildly impaired respiratory conditions performed a series of simulated work tasks using the HFM and N95 on different days. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measured state anxiety (SA) before and during respirator use. STAI also measured trait anxiety (TA), a stable personal characteristic. The effect of the respirator was measured as the difference between SA pre-use and during use. Work with HFM was associated with an increase in SA (2.92 units, p<.01), whereas work with the N95 had no observed effect. Anxiety should be considered in the selection of the best respirator for a user. Impact on anxiety should be considered for respirator design and certification purposes, particularly if the device is to be widely used in workplace and community settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Anxiety Behavioral-testing Elastic-properties Emotional-stress Equipment-design Face-masks Personality-traits Personal Protective Equipment Respirator Respirators Respiratory-protective-equipment Task-performance

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  123-128
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038605
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2011 Mar; 8(3):123-128
• Contact Point Address:
  Philip Harber, UCLA Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 10880 Wilshire, #1800, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
• Email:
  pharber@ucla.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050715
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20140731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3e791b897e210af252078b1a4fc176210367385470d79a9740f46af7f2e012d92e32c5258b4288ae72a9813f6b94fc14c9c798630dedf9a02d6b116ee032ad1f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192257/cdc_192257_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 181.53 KB ]