Physiological Strain in Older Adults During a Simulated Heat Wave

A recent report showed that maintaining indoor temperature at or below 26°C safeguards older, heat vulnerable adults against potentially dangerous increases in thermal and cardiovascular strain during an extreme heat event (PMID: 38329752). However, this proposed limit does not consider the potential cumulative effect of successive days of heat exposure, which could lead to a progressive deterioration in thermoregulatory and cardiovascular function and necessitate adjustments to upper indoor temperature limits. Further, thermal comfort and quality of sleep may be negatively impacted when bedroom temperatures exceed 24°C (PMID: 3090680). On this basis, some health agencies have recommended that bedroom temperatures at night should not exceed 26°C unless ceiling fans are available (PMID: 3090680). Currently, however, it is unknown whether indoor overheating impairs sleep quality and physiological strain on a subsequent day in older adults and, if so, whether maintaining indoor temperature at 26°C is sufficient to prevent these adverse health impacts.

With rising global temperatures and more extreme heat events, energy management strategies to limit the strain on the power grid during the daytime are now increasingly commonplace. Thus, understanding the benefits of maintaining indoor temperature at the recommend upper limits of 26°C during the nighttime only on surrogate physiological indicators of health is an important step in understanding how to optimize protection for heat-vulnerable older adults when power outages occur.

The investigators will assess the efficacy of proposed indoor temperature limits (i.e., 26°C) in mitigating increases in core temperature and cardiovascular strain over three consecutive days (3 days, 2 nights) in older adults (60-85 years) with (indoor temperatures maintained at the recommend 26°C at all times throughout the three days) and without (daytime temperature fixed at 34°C (temperature experienced in homes without air-conditioning during an extreme heat event) with nighttime temperature at 26°C) access to daytime cooling. By quantifying the effect of daylong indoor overheating on surrogate physiological outcomes linked with heat-related mortality and morbidity in older adults, the investigators can determine if refinements in the recommended upper temperature threshold is required, including best practices when power outages may occur during an extreme heat event.

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University of Ottawa

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ID de l'étude: NCT06633302