Community Trial on Heat Related-Illness Prevention Behaviors and Knowledge for the Elderly

Noriko Takahashi, Rieko Nakao, Kayo Ueda, Masaji Ono, Masahide Kondo, Yasushi Honda and Masahiro Hashizume
Additional contact information
Noriko Takahashi: Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan
Rieko Nakao: Department of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8520, Japan
Kayo Ueda: The National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
Masaji Ono: The National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
Masahide Kondo: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
Yasushi Honda: Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
Masahiro Hashizume: Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-27

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.

Keywords: heat-related illness; heat health warning; behavior and knowledge change; elderly people; community trial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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