TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– In Japan, one of the countermeasures used to avoid the symptoms of hay fever (HF) is a hygiene mask; however, a mask can cause discomfort. The authors believe that co-occurrence analysis, which has been widely in the sciences, will be valuable to this issue. The purpose of this paper is to identify problems associated with the use of hygiene masks and recommend improvements in their function and comfort. The goal of this study was to obtain information for the development of effective hygiene masks for HF sufferers and therefore, improve their quality of life. Design/methodology/approach– The authors conducted a survey of university students with HF (n=1,519) to identify problems with hygiene masks. Students completed self-report questionnaires and co-occurrence analyses were used to examine the data from a holistic perspective. Moreover, technical data, relative to the problems of wearing a mask were acquired experimentally using thermal, hygroscopic, and airflow properties. Findings– Among Japanese university students, hygiene masks were the most popular countermeasure against HF symptoms. In addition, it was found that wearing a mask was not influenced of the type of symptoms. Most problems were related to the masks’ thermal, hygroscopic, and airflow properties. Originality/value– The paper proposed the use of co-occurrence analysis to analyze problems with hygiene masks. Most problems appear to be related to the thermal, hygroscopic, and airflow properties of the masks. Moreover, such phenomena have been experimentally demonstrated. VL - 26 IS - 4 SN - 0955-6222 DO - 10.1108/IJCST-08-2013-0093 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-08-2013-0093 AU - Morishima Mika AU - Kishida Koya AU - Uozumi Takashi AU - Kamijo Masayoshi PY - 2014 Y1 - 2014/01/01 TI - Experiences and problems with hygiene masks reported by Japanese hay fever sufferers T2 - International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 262 EP - 273 Y2 - 2024/09/24 ER -