College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2020 Apr 6;10(4):e031825. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031825.
This review aimed to describe the epidemiology of all heat-related illnesses in women compared with men in the armed forces and to identify gender-specific risk factors and differences in heat tolerance.
A systematic review of multiple databases (MEDLINE, Emcare, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Informit and Scopus) was conducted from the inception of the databases to 1 April 2019 using the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis guidelines.
All relevant studies investigating and comparing heat illness and heat tolerance in women and men in the armed forces were included in the review.
Twenty-four studies were included in the systematic review. The incidence of heat stroke in women ranged from 0.10 to 0.26 per 1000 person-years, while the incidence of heat stroke ranged from 0.22 to 0.48 per 1000 person-years in men. The incidence of other heat illnesses in women compared with men ranged from 1.30 to 2.89 per 1000 person-years versus 0.98 to 1.98 per 1000 person-years. The limited evidence suggests that women had a greater risk of exertional heat illness compared with men. Other gender-specific risk factors were slower run times and body mass index. Although there was a higher proportion of women who were heat intolerant compared with men, this finding needs to be interpreted with caution due to the limited evidence.
The findings of this review suggest that men experienced a slightly higher incidence of heat stroke than women in the armed forces. In addition, the limited available evidence suggests that a higher proportion of women were heat intolerant and being a female was associated with a greater risk of exertional heat illnesses. Given the limited evidence available, further research is required to investigate the influence of gender differences on heat intolerance and heat illness.
本综述旨在描述与男性相比，女性在武装部队中所有与热相关的疾病的流行病学，并确定性别特异性的风险因素和耐热能力的差异。
对多个数据库（MEDLINE、Emcare、CINAHL、PsycINFO、Informit 和 Scopus）进行了系统回顾，检索时间从数据库建立之初至 2019 年 4 月 1 日，使用系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目进行。
所有调查和比较女性与男性在武装部队中热疾病和耐热能力的相关研究均纳入本综述。
共纳入 24 项系统综述研究。女性中暑的发病率为 0.10 至 0.26 例/1000 人年，而男性中暑的发病率为 0.22 至 0.48 例/1000 人年。与男性相比，女性其他热疾病的发病率为 1.30 至 2.89 例/1000 人年，而男性为 0.98 至 1.98 例/1000 人年。有限的证据表明，与男性相比，女性患劳力性热疾病的风险更大。其他特定于性别的风险因素是跑步时间较慢和体重指数较高。尽管与男性相比，女性中有更高比例的人不耐热，但由于证据有限，这一发现需要谨慎解释。
本综述的结果表明，在武装部队中，男性比女性经历的中暑发病率略高。此外，有限的可用证据表明，女性中有更高比例的人不耐热，并且女性的性别与患劳力性热疾病的风险增加相关。鉴于现有证据有限，需要进一步研究来调查性别差异对耐热能力和热疾病的影响。
