McGirr Alba, Chowdhury Srizan, Rabbi Md Fozla, Hasan Md Mehedi, Sagar Md Sharoardy, Ibnat Nabilah, Hanifi Syed Manzoor Ahmed
Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Health System and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddr, B), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jun 6;25(1):2121. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21597-8.
Bangladesh is already prone to extreme weather events like heatwaves, leaving millions vulnerable. High ambient temperatures are associated with increased morbidity and mortality by infectious diseases, but the effect of these high temperatures indoors remains to be studied.
This study investigated the effect of high indoor temperatures on the feelings of illness and heat coping mechanisms in vulnerable populations without heat mitigation.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 490 houses in rural villages in the coastal area of Chakaria, Bangladesh chosen through stratified cluster sampling. It assessed the feelings of illness and their adaptative behaviour to high temperatures. There were 49 temperature and humidity monitors placed indoors to obtain accurate measurements of these parameters in different areas and with different house materials. This information was used to determine the effect of high indoor temperatures on the symptoms that vulnerable populations reported.
People living in hotter houses reported overall more symptoms, notably, diarrhoea, local site infections and sore throat. Temperatures were higher in houses made of bamboo compared to cement and having shade significantly decreased indoor temperature. Most women in the study reported performing adequate heat coping mechanisms. However, these did not show a protective effect against illness.
This paper showed that high indoor temperatures could be associated with an increase in symptoms. Housing characteristics (material and environment) decreased indoor temperature. Having shading and a house made from cement was protective to reporting symptoms. Further studies into the compliance of coping behaviours are needed to assess their potential protective effect.
孟加拉国已经容易遭受热浪等极端天气事件的影响，使数百万人处于脆弱状态。环境温度升高与传染病导致的发病率和死亡率增加有关，但室内高温的影响仍有待研究。
本研究调查了在没有散热措施的情况下，室内高温对脆弱人群患病感受和热应对机制的影响。
通过分层整群抽样，在孟加拉国查卡里亚沿海地区的农村村庄的490所房屋中进行了一项横断面调查。该调查评估了患病感受以及他们对高温的适应性行为。在室内放置了49个温度和湿度监测器，以获取不同区域和不同房屋材料中这些参数的准确测量值。这些信息被用于确定室内高温对脆弱人群报告的症状的影响。
居住在较热房屋中的人总体上报告的症状更多，尤其是腹泻、局部感染和喉咙痛。与水泥房屋相比，竹制房屋的温度更高，有遮阳显著降低了室内温度。研究中的大多数女性报告采取了适当的热应对机制。然而，这些措施并未显示出对疾病的保护作用。
本文表明室内高温可能与症状增加有关。房屋特征（材料和环境）降低了室内温度。有遮阳和水泥房屋对报告症状有保护作用。需要进一步研究应对行为的依从性，以评估其潜在的保护作用。
