背景:气候变化对健康的影响越来越大,特别是撒哈拉以南非洲的农村人口,因为他们的适应资源有限。理解这些影响仍然是一个挑战,因为对这些人群的生命体征的连续监测是有限的。可穿戴设备(可穿戴设备)提供了一种可行的方法来实时研究这些对人类健康的影响。
目的:本研究的目的是评估消费级可穿戴设备在测量天气暴露对生理反应(包括活动,心率,壳体温度,和睡眠)肯尼亚西部农村人口,并确定与天气暴露相关的健康影响。
方法:我们在肯尼亚西部进行了一项观察性案例研究,在3周内利用可穿戴设备连续监测各种健康指标,例如步数,睡眠模式,心率,和身体外壳温度。此外,当地气象站提供了有关降雨和热量等环境条件的详细数据,每15分钟测量一次。
结果:我们的队列包括83名参与者(42名女性和41名男性),平均年龄33岁。我们观察到步数与最大湿球温度之间呈正相关(估计值0.06,SE0.02;P=.008)。尽管夜间最低气温和热指数与睡眠时间呈负相关,这些没有统计学意义。在其他应用模型中没有发现显著的相关性。在204天的194天(95.1%)记录了警告热指数水平。204天中有16天(7.8%)发生了暴雨(>20毫米/天)。尽管47台设备中有10台(21%)出现故障,睡眠和步数的数据完整性较高(平均82.6%,SD21.3%,平均值86.1%,SD18.9%,分别),但心率低(平均7%,SD14%),成年女性的心率数据完整性明显高于男性(双侧t检验:P=.003;Mann-WhitneyU检验:P=.001)。车身外壳温度数据达到36.2%(SD24.5%)的完整性。
结论:我们的研究为肯尼亚农村地区天气暴露对健康的影响提供了细致的理解。我们的研究的可穿戴设备的应用揭示了身体活动水平和高温胁迫之间的显著相关性,与其他表明在较热条件下活动减少的研究相反。这种差异要求进一步调查独特的社会环境动态,特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。此外,在热引起的睡眠中断中观察到的非重要趋势暴露了对局部气候变化缓解策略的需求,考虑到睡眠在健康中的重要作用。这些发现强调需要针对具体情况的研究,以便为容易受到气候变化不利健康影响的地区的政策和实践提供信息。
BACKGROUND: Climate change increasingly impacts health, particularly of
rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa due to their limited resources for adaptation. Understanding these impacts remains a challenge, as continuous monitoring of vital signs in such populations is limited. Wearable devices (wearables) present a viable approach to studying these impacts on human health in real time.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of consumer-grade wearables in measuring the health impacts of weather exposure on physiological responses (including activity, heart rate, body shell temperature, and sleep) of
rural populations in western Kenya and to identify the health impacts associated with the weather exposures.
METHODS: We conducted an observational
case study in western Kenya by utilizing wearables over a 3-week period to continuously monitor various health metrics such as step count, sleep patterns, heart rate, and body shell temperature. Additionally, a local weather station provided detailed data on environmental conditions such as rainfall and heat, with measurements taken every 15 minutes.
RESULTS: Our cohort comprised 83 participants (42 women and 41 men), with an average age of 33 years. We observed a positive correlation between step count and maximum wet bulb globe temperature (estimate 0.06, SE 0.02; P=.008). Although there was a negative correlation between minimum nighttime temperatures and heat index with sleep duration, these were not statistically significant. No significant correlations were found in other applied models. A cautionary heat index level was recorded on 194 (95.1%) of 204 days. Heavy rainfall (>20 mm/day) occurred on 16 (7.8%) out of 204 days. Despite 10 (21%) out of 47 devices failing, data completeness was high for sleep and step count (mean 82.6%, SD 21.3% and mean 86.1%, SD 18.9%, respectively), but low for heart rate (mean 7%, SD 14%), with adult women showing significantly higher data completeness for heart rate than men (2-sided t test: P=.003; Mann-Whitney U test: P=.001). Body shell temperature data achieved 36.2% (SD 24.5%) completeness.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a nuanced understanding of the health impacts of weather exposures in
rural Kenya. Our study\'s application of wearables reveals a significant correlation between physical activity levels and high temperature stress, contrasting with other studies suggesting decreased activity in hotter conditions. This discrepancy invites further investigation into the unique socioenvironmental dynamics at play, particularly in sub-Saharan African contexts. Moreover, the nonsignificant trends observed in sleep disruption due to heat expose the need for localized climate change mitigation strategies, considering the vital role of sleep in health. These findings emphasize the need for context-specific research to inform policy and practice in regions susceptible to the adverse health effects of climate change.