Ponto de vista dos profissionais de Educação Física sobre o uso da máscara facial durante o exercício físico na pandemia da COVID-19

The objective of the study was to analyze the opinion of Physical Education professionals (PEP) on the recommendations for the use of face masks during physical exercise (PE) outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 2,234 PEP from Brazil. An online form was sent to the PEP with 12 questions about the recommendations for using a face mask when practicing PE outdoors. Pearson's χ2 test and χ2 test for linear trend were performed to assess the association among variables, adopting a 5% significance level. The results show that 73.4% of the PEP recommend the practice of outdoor PE in the pandemic scenario of COVID-19. Regarding the use of a face mask during PE, the recommendation was higher for use only in places with crowds of people and the impossibility of social distance (48.2%). A significant proportion of professionals expressed the opinion that the use of a face mask during outdoor PE can be detrimental both to physical performance (50.6%) and to the health of the people (37.7%). There was an association between the highest degree of academic qualification in the PEP and the recommendation to use a face mask in any situation (p = 0.003). We conclude that, although the PEP recommend the practice of PE outdoors, the majority of them recommend the use of the face mask only with the impossibility of social distance.