# The Impact of Medical Face Masks and Rehabilitation Duration on the Performance Output and Outcomes of Cardiologic Rehabilitants

## TL;DR

This study found that wearing face masks during cardiological rehabilitation and extending rehabilitation by a week did not affect patient outcomes.

## Contribution

The study empirically evaluates the impact of face masks and rehabilitation duration on cardiological rehabilitation outcomes.

## Key findings

- Patients who wore face masks during rehabilitation showed no differences in performance compared to those who did not.
- Extending rehabilitation by one week did not improve outcomes compared to a three-week program.
- All groups improved power output and heart rate recovery similarly.

## Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing a medical face mask became mandatory in daily life and also in cardiological rehabilitation. In order to investigate whether the performance and outcomes of cardiological rehabilitation were affected by face masks, we compared data from patients who underwent rehabilitation with face masks with data from patients without face masks. In total, 114 patients from an ambulant rehabilitation center were included. Of them, 60 patients completed rehabilitation without a face mask (NFM). In contrast, 54 patients (with a face mask, WFM) completed their rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic and had to wear medical face masks for the entire day and also during ergometer training or other interventions. Subgroups were formed with patients who accepted to extend rehabilitation for one week (4 WG); the other patients only completed 3-week rehabilitation (3 WG). We analyzed the performance and outcomes of all groups (NFM; WFM, 3 WG and 4 WG). At baseline, no group differences were detected. All groups significantly improved their power output and heart rate recovery, without any group differences. We conclude that face masks and also an additional rehabilitation week do not affect the exercise performance or outcomes of out-house cardiological rehabilitation.