IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i3p1905-d744619.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heat Strain and Use of Heat Mitigation Strategies among COVID-19 Healthcare Workers Wearing Personal Protective Equipment—A Retrospective Study

Author

Listed:
  • Coen C. W. G. Bongers

    (Department of Physiology, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Philips van Leijdenlaan 15, 6525 EX Nijmegen, The Netherlands
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Johannus Q. de Korte

    (Department of Physiology, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Philips van Leijdenlaan 15, 6525 EX Nijmegen, The Netherlands
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Mike Zwartkruis

    (Department of Physiology, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Philips van Leijdenlaan 15, 6525 EX Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

  • Koen Levels

    (Institute of Training Medicine and Training Physiology, TGTF, Royal Netherlands Army, Herculeslaan 1, 3584 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Boris R. M. Kingma

    (Department of Human Performance, Unit Defence, Safety and Security, TNO, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Sciences, Kampweg 55, 3769 DE Soesterberg, The Netherlands
    Department of Energy Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 19, 5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Thijs M. H. Eijsvogels

    (Department of Physiology, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Philips van Leijdenlaan 15, 6525 EX Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

The combination of an exacerbated workload and impermeable nature of the personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by COVID-19 healthcare workers increases heat strain. We aimed to compare the prevalence of heat strain symptoms before (routine care without PPE) versus during the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 care with PPE), identify risk factors associated with experiencing heat strain, and evaluate the access to and use of heat mitigation strategies. Dutch healthcare workers (n = 791) working at COVID-19 wards for ≥1 week, completed an online questionnaire to assess personal characteristics, heat strain symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the access to and use of heat mitigation strategies. Healthcare workers experienced ~25× more often heat strain symptoms during medical duties with PPE (93% of healthcare workers) compared to without PPE (30% of healthcare workers; OR = 25.57 (95% CI = 18.17–35.98)). Female healthcare workers and those with an age <40 years were most affected by heat strain, whereas exposure time and sports activity level were not significantly associated with heat strain prevalence. Cold drinks and ice slurry ingestion were the most frequently used heat mitigation strategies and were available in 63.5% and 30.1% of participants, respectively. Our findings indicate that heat strain is a major challenge for COVID-19 healthcare workers, and heat mitigations strategies are often used to counteract heat strain.

Suggested Citation

  • Coen C. W. G. Bongers & Johannus Q. de Korte & Mike Zwartkruis & Koen Levels & Boris R. M. Kingma & Thijs M. H. Eijsvogels, 2022. "Heat Strain and Use of Heat Mitigation Strategies among COVID-19 Healthcare Workers Wearing Personal Protective Equipment—A Retrospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1905-:d:744619
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1905/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1905/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alessandro Messeri & Michela Bonafede & Emma Pietrafesa & Iole Pinto & Francesca de’Donato & Alfonso Crisci & Jason Kai Wei Lee & Alessandro Marinaccio & Miriam Levi & Marco Morabito & on behalf of th, 2021. "A Web Survey to Evaluate the Thermal Stress Associated with Personal Protective Equipment among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Jimmy Lee & Vidhya Venugopal & P K Latha & Sharifah Badriyah Alhadad & Clarence Hong Wei Leow & Nicholas Yong De Goh & Esther Tan & Tord Kjellstrom & Marco Morabito & Jason Kai Wei Lee, 2020. "Heat Stress and Thermal Perception amongst Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India and Singapore," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-12, November.
    3. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "Effects of Implementation of Infection Control Measures against COVID-19 on the Condition of Japanese Rural Nursing Homes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-9, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sheng-Chieh Lee & Ching-Yuan Lin & Ying-Ji Chuang, 2022. "The Study of Alternative Fire Commanders’ Training Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in New Taipei City, Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-22, May.
    2. Yingying Zhao & Meng Su & Xin Meng & Jiying Liu & Faming Wang, 2022. "Thermophysiological and Perceptual Responses of Amateur Healthcare Workers: Impacts of Ambient Condition, Inner-Garment Insulation and Personal Cooling Strategy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Emily J. Tetzlaff & Nicholas Goulet & Melissa Gorman & Gregory R. A. Richardson & Glen P. Kenny, 2023. "The Intersection of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2021 Heat Dome in Canadian Digital News Media: A Content Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(17), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Ngqabutho Moyo & Anita D. Bhappu & Moment Bhebhe & Farai Ncube, 2022. "Perceived Risk of COVID-19 and Employee Decision-Making: How Psychological Distress during the Pandemic Increases Negative Performance Outcomes among Healthcare Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yingying Zhao & Meng Su & Xin Meng & Jiying Liu & Faming Wang, 2022. "Thermophysiological and Perceptual Responses of Amateur Healthcare Workers: Impacts of Ambient Condition, Inner-Garment Insulation and Personal Cooling Strategy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Michela Bonafede & Miriam Levi & Emma Pietrafesa & Alessandra Binazzi & Alessandro Marinaccio & Marco Morabito & Iole Pinto & Francesca de’ Donato & Valentina Grasso & Tiziano Costantini & Alessandro , 2022. "Workers’ Perception Heat Stress: Results from a Pilot Study Conducted in Italy during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Ryuichi Ohta & Akinori Ueno & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "Changes in the Comprehensiveness of Rural Medical Care for Older Japanese Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-9, October.
    4. Emily J. Tetzlaff & Nicholas Goulet & Melissa Gorman & Gregory R. A. Richardson & Glen P. Kenny, 2023. "The Intersection of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2021 Heat Dome in Canadian Digital News Media: A Content Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(17), pages 1-16, August.
    5. S Vivek Anand & Yao Kang Shuy & Poay Sian Sabrina Lee & Eng Sing Lee, 2021. "One Year on: An Overview of Singapore’s Response to COVID-19—What We Did, How We Fared, How We Can Move Forward," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-33, August.
    6. Alessandro Messeri & Michela Bonafede & Emma Pietrafesa & Iole Pinto & Francesca de’Donato & Alfonso Crisci & Jason Kai Wei Lee & Alessandro Marinaccio & Miriam Levi & Marco Morabito & on behalf of th, 2021. "A Web Survey to Evaluate the Thermal Stress Associated with Personal Protective Equipment among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Claudia Westermann & Nika Zielinski & Christiane Altenburg & Madeleine Dulon & Olaf Kleinmüller & Jan Felix Kersten & Albert Nienhaus, 2022. "Prevalence of Adverse Skin Reactions in Nursing Staff Due to Personal Protective Equipment during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Mariana Aparicio Betancourt & Andrea Duarte-Díaz & Helena Vall-Roqué & Laura Seils & Carola Orrego & Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez & Jaime Barrio-Cortes & María Teresa Beca-Martínez & Almudena Molina Serr, 2022. "Global Healthcare Needs Related to COVID-19: An Evidence Map of the First Year of the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-23, August.
    9. Mahbubur Meenar & Md Shahinoor Rahman & Jason Russack & Sarah Bauer & Kul Kapri, 2023. "“The Urban Poor and Vulnerable Are Hit Hardest by the Heat”: A Heat Equity Lens to Understand Community Perceptions of Climate Change, Urban Heat Islands, and Green Infrastructure," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1905-:d:744619. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.