Oberai Mehak, Xu Zhiwei, Bach Aaron, Forbes Connor, Jackman Ella, O'Connor Fergus, Ennever Isabella, Binnewies Sebastian, Baker Steven, Rutherford Shannon
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
NPJ Digit Med. 2025 Feb 20;8(1):114. doi: 10.1038/s41746-025-01505-5.
Extreme heat events lead to considerable health burden and are becoming more severe and frequent, calling for the development of effective population-based and individualised heat early warning systems. We developed an individualised heat early warning system and tested it in 78 older adults' ( ≥ 65 years) homes in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data from this proof-of-concept testing study showed that the Ethos system performed well on a standard usability scale (mean score of 78 on the System Usability Scale). Following a summer-time use of this early warning system, there were increases in heat preparedness (P < 0.001, marginal homogeneity tests) but no significant increases in heat health risk perception or the uptake of low-cost cooling measures (e.g., hand/forearm bath, fans). This proof-of-concept research demonstrated the usability of this tailored, actionable, real-time digital heat early warning system, although the effectiveness of the system remains to be evaluated in a robust trial design.
极端高温事件会导致相当大的健康负担，且正变得愈发严重和频繁，这就需要开发有效的基于人群和个性化的高温早期预警系统。我们开发了一个个性化高温早期预警系统，并在澳大利亚昆士兰东南部78位（≥65岁）老年人的家中进行了测试。这项概念验证测试研究的定量和定性数据表明，Ethos系统在标准可用性量表上表现良好（系统可用性量表平均得分为78分）。在夏季使用该早期预警系统后，高温防范意识有所提高（P<0.001，边际同质性检验），但高温健康风险认知或低成本降温措施（如手/前臂洗浴、风扇）的采用率没有显著提高。这项概念验证研究证明了这种量身定制、可操作的实时数字高温早期预警系统的可用性，不过该系统的有效性仍有待在严格的试验设计中进行评估。
