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Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2015 Mar 17;12(3):3188-214.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph120303188.

Community trial on heat related-illness prevention behaviors and knowledge for the elderly

Noriko Takahashi  1   2   3 , Rieko Nakao  4 , Kayo Ueda  5 , Masaji Ono  6 , Masahide Kondo  7 , Yasushi Honda  8 , Masahiro Hashizume  9   10
Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

Community trial on heat related-illness prevention behaviors and knowledge for the elderly

Noriko Takahashi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether broadcasting heat health warnings (HHWs), to every household and whether the additional home delivery of bottled water labeled with messages will be effective in improving the behaviors and knowledge of elderly people to prevent heat-related illness. A community trial on heat-related-illness-prevention behaviors and knowledge for people aged between 65 and 84 years was conducted in Nagasaki, Japan. Five hundred eight subjects were selected randomly from three groups: heat health warning (HHW), HHW and water delivery (HHW+W), and control groups. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires were conducted in June and September 2012, respectively. Of the 1524 selected subjects, the 1072 that completed both questionnaires were analyzed. The HHW+W group showed improvements in nighttime AC use (p=0.047), water intake (p=0.003), cooling body (p=0.002) and reduced activities in heat (p=0.047) compared with the control, while the HHW group improved hat or parasol use (p=0.008). An additional effect of household water delivery was observed in water intake (p=0.067) and cooling body (p=0.095) behaviors. HHW and household bottled water delivery improved heat-related-illness-prevention behaviors. The results indicate that home water delivery in addition to a HHW may be needed to raise awareness of the elderly.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The map of the study site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The flow of the participants through the trial.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily maximum temperatures in the summers of 2011 and 2012 and the dates on which the HHWs were issued in the 2012 summer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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