Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Physiology, Center for Space Medicine and Extreme Environment Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Sep 9;10(9):e39532. doi: 10.2196/39532.
Although climate change is one of the biggest global health threats, individual-level and short-term data on direct exposure and health impacts are still scarce. Wearable electronic devices (wearables) present a potential solution to this research gap. Wearables have become widely accepted in various areas of health research for ecological momentary assessment, and some studies have used wearables in the field of climate change and health. However, these studies vary in study design, demographics, and outcome variables, and existing research has not been mapped.
In this review, we aimed to map existing research on wearables used to detect direct health impacts and individual exposure during climate change-induced weather extremes, such as heat waves or wildfires.
We conducted a scoping review according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) framework and systematically searched 6 databases (PubMed [MEDLINE], IEEE Xplore, CINAHL [EBSCOhost], WoS, Scopus, Ovid [MEDLINE], and Google Scholar). The search yielded 1871 results. Abstracts and full texts were screened by 2 reviewers (MK and IM) independently using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria comprised studies published since 2010 that used off-the-shelf wearables that were neither invasive nor obtrusive to the user in the setting of climate change-related weather extremes. Data were charted using a structured form, and the study outcomes were narratively synthesized.
The review included 55,284 study participants using wearables in 53 studies. Most studies were conducted in upper-middle-income and high-income countries (50/53, 94%) in urban environments (25/53, 47%) or in a climatic chamber (19/53, 36%) and assessed the health effects of heat exposure (52/53, 98%). The majority reported adverse health effects of heat exposure on sleep, physical activity, and heart rate. The remaining studies assessed occupational heat stress or compared individual- and area-level heat exposure. In total, 26% (14/53) of studies determined that all examined wearables were valid and reliable for measuring health parameters during heat exposure when compared with standard methods.
Wearables have been used successfully in large-scale research to measure the health implications of climate change-related weather extremes. More research is needed in low-income countries and vulnerable populations with pre-existing conditions. In addition, further research could focus on the health impacts of other climate change-related conditions and the effectiveness of adaptation measures at the individual level to such weather extremes.
尽管气候变化是全球最大的健康威胁之一，但关于直接暴露和健康影响的个体层面和短期数据仍然稀缺。可穿戴电子设备（wearables）为解决这一研究空白提供了潜在的解决方案。可穿戴设备在生态瞬时评估的各个健康研究领域已被广泛接受，一些研究也将可穿戴设备应用于气候变化与健康领域。然而，这些研究在研究设计、人口统计学和结果变量方面存在差异，且现有研究尚未得到系统梳理。
本综述旨在梳理现有研究，这些研究使用可穿戴设备来检测气候变化引起的极端天气（如热浪或野火）期间的直接健康影响和个体暴露。
我们按照 PRISMA-ScR（系统评价和荟萃分析扩展的首选报告项目）框架进行了范围综述，并系统地在 6 个数据库（PubMed [MEDLINE]、IEEE Xplore、CINAHL [EBSCOhost]、WoS、Scopus、Ovid [MEDLINE]和 Google Scholar）中进行了检索。检索得到 1871 项结果。两名审查员（MK 和 IM）独立使用纳入和排除标准筛选摘要和全文。纳入标准包括自 2010 年以来发表的研究，这些研究使用了非侵入性或对用户无干扰的现成可穿戴设备，这些设备是在与气候变化相关的极端天气条件下使用的。使用结构化表格对数据进行图表绘制，并对研究结果进行叙述性综合。
本综述共纳入了 53 项研究中的 55284 名参与者，这些研究使用了可穿戴设备。大多数研究在中高收入和高收入国家（50/53，94%）、城市环境（25/53，47%）或气候室（19/53，36%）中进行，评估了热暴露的健康影响（52/53，98%）。大多数研究报告了热暴露对睡眠、体力活动和心率的不良健康影响。其余研究评估了职业热应激或比较了个体和区域水平的热暴露。总的来说，26%（14/53）的研究表明，与标准方法相比，所有检查的可穿戴设备在测量热暴露期间的健康参数时都是有效和可靠的。
可穿戴设备已成功应用于大规模研究，以测量与气候变化相关的极端天气对健康的影响。在低收入国家和有潜在疾病的脆弱人群中需要开展更多的研究。此外，进一步的研究可以集中在与其他气候变化相关条件的健康影响上，以及这些极端天气下个人层面适应措施的有效性上。
