Table 1 Characteristics of patients recruited in the doctor-mask wearing (MASK) and non mask wearing (NoMASK) clinical consultations
| Â | NoMASK | MASK |
|---|---|---|
| Â | No (%) | No (%) |
Age | Â | Â |
 <44 | 77 (15.0) | 60 (11.7) |
 45-64 | 251 (48.7) | 215 (41.7) |
 >65 | 187 (36.3) | 238 (46.2) |
Gender | Â | Â |
 Female | 306 (59.4) | 304 (59.0) |
 Male | 209 (40.6) | 207 (40.2) |
Education | Â | Â |
 Primary or Below | 210 (40.9) | 259 (50.9) |
 Above Primary | 303 (59.1) | 250 (49.1) |
General Health over last 12Â months | Â | Â |
 Very bad/Bad | 89 (17.4) | 94 (18.4) |
 Fair | 295 (57.7) | 291 (56.9) |
 Good/Very Good | 127 (24.9) | 127 (24.9) |
Knowing the doctor | Â | Â |
 Not Well/Neutral | 494 (96.0) | 490 (95.1) |
 Quite Well/Very Well | 21 (4.1) | 23 (4.5) |
Nature of the problem | Â | Â |
 New (acute) illness | 102 (19.8) | 77 (15.0) |
 Old (chronic) illness | 386 (74.8) | 418 (81.5) |
 Both new and old | 28 (5.4) | 18 (3.5) |
Duration of consultation, mean (SD) | 7.64 (4.55) | 7.67 (4.85) |