Deglon Michaela, Africa Chad, Soepnel Larske Marit, Kapwata Thandi, Aikins Ama de-Graft, Bedu-Addo Kweku, Howard Guy, Lambert Estelle Victoria, Rae Dale Elizabeth, Sibanda Martha, Gordon Christopher, New Mark, Dugas Lara Ruth
African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
BMC Public Health. 2025 May 9;25(1):1725. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22757-6.
Temperatures across Africa are expected to rise at up to twice the rate of mean global temperatures, posing significant health threats to vulnerable communities. Prolonged exposure to high day- and night-time temperatures has been implicated in a myriad of adverse health outcomes. The built environment and inadequate housing can exacerbate these consequences, prompting the need to evaluate heat adaptation interventions as a sustainable adaptation strategy for low-income and informal settlement dwellers. The Heat Adaptation Benefits for Vulnerable groups In Africa (HABVIA) study aims to assess the impact of passive cooling interventions in homes on several key physiologic and mental health outcomes, as well as building internal thermal conditions.
HABVIA is a 3-year prospective controlled study to identify, implement and assess heat adaptation solutions in four low-income communities in one urban and one rural site in Ghana and South Africa, respectively. In each site, N=240 participants (N=60 per site) will be assigned to intervention or control groups. The intervention is focused on lowering the nighttime temperature of the home environment. Health and biometric data will be collected through a combination of physiological measurements, questionnaires, and biochemical measures taken at 3 time points during the hot season. Clinical outcomes include objective sleep behaviour, core body temperature, physical activity, blood pressure, blood glucose, anthropometrics, and body composition. Indoor and outdoor environmental data will be collected continuously using fixed indoor sensors and automatic weather stations. Housing and community characteristics, and socio-economic information will be collected. Quantitative comparisons will be made between intervention and control conditions using generalised linear mixed models. Qualitative data from consultive workshops will be used to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the adaptations.
Robust evaluation of the environmental and health outcomes of heat adaptations are limited for Africa, despite high climate vulnerability. HABVIA will address some of these gaps by assessing low-cost passive cooling interventions to promote heat resilience and improve health outcomes, providing real-world evidence for the feasibility of readily implementable and scalable adaptations in local contexts.
Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) PACTR202401521630856, version 1. Retrospectively registered on January 12, 2024.
预计非洲各地气温上升速度将高达全球平均气温上升速度的两倍，这对脆弱社区构成了重大健康威胁。长期暴露在白天和夜间的高温环境中与众多不良健康后果有关。建筑环境和住房条件不佳会加剧这些后果，因此有必要评估热适应干预措施，将其作为低收入和非正规住区居民的可持续适应策略。非洲弱势群体热适应效益（HABVIA）研究旨在评估家庭被动降温干预措施对若干关键生理和心理健康结果以及建筑物内部热状况的影响。
HABVIA是一项为期3年的前瞻性对照研究，分别在加纳和南非的一个城市和一个农村地区的四个低收入社区中识别、实施和评估热适应解决方案。在每个地点，将有N = 240名参与者（每个地点N = 60名）被分配到干预组或对照组。干预措施的重点是降低家庭环境的夜间温度。将通过生理测量、问卷调查以及在炎热季节的3个时间点采集的生化指标相结合的方式收集健康和生物特征数据。临床结果包括客观睡眠行为、核心体温、身体活动、血压、血糖、人体测量学和身体成分。将使用固定的室内传感器和自动气象站持续收集室内和室外环境数据。还将收集住房和社区特征以及社会经济信息。将使用广义线性混合模型对干预组和对照组的情况进行定量比较。咨询研讨会的定性数据将用于评估适应措施的可接受性和可行性。
尽管非洲气候脆弱性高，但对热适应的环境和健康结果进行的有力评估却很有限。HABVIA将通过评估低成本的被动降温干预措施来提高热适应能力并改善健康结果，从而填补其中一些空白，为在当地背景下易于实施和扩展的适应措施的可行性提供实际证据。
泛非临床试验注册中心（PACTR）PACTR202401521630856，版本1。于2024年1月12日追溯注册。
