An investigation of heat stress epidemiology, prevention guidelines, and sporting environment
- Authors: Gonsalves, Marlon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: As temperatures rise, the frequency of heatwaves, extreme summer heat and less night-time cooling increases. An uncontrolled increase in heat production affects performance and subsequently affects the health of the athlete resulting in exertional heat illness (EHI). EHI is a result of an uncontrollable rise in core body temperature arising from a thermoregulatory response. With rising temperatures, the risk of EHI when exercising or participating in sport increases. However, assessing the risk of EHI is contingent on accurate epidemiological data and addressing the risk of EHI is reliant on effective evidence-based interventions. This thesis assessed the risk of EHI through four interlinked studies: (ⅰ) an analysis of heat-related sports and leisure hospitalisations and emergency department presentations to determine trends in incidence rates and compare them with meteorological trends; (ⅱ) a document analysis of all sports and leisure activity heat-related injury prevention resources in Australia to develop an understanding of the content within those resources; (ⅲ) an investigation of surface temperatures of commonly used artificial sports surfaces to assess the risk posed by such surfaces and measure the differences in microclimates; and, (ⅳ) an assessment of the concordance of meteorological data of multiple artificial sports surfaces with meteorological data from the nearest Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) weather station and a local City of Ballarat (COB) environmental monitoring system (EMS). A total of 1055 heat injury hospitalisations and emergency department (ED) presentations were recorded between July 2008 and June 2018, which included 171 sport-related hospitalisations,139 ED presentations, 83 leisure-related hospitalisations and 662 ED presentations. There were significant correlations between ED presentations for heat-related sports injuries and mean, minimum and maximum temperature, mean and maximum temperature anomaly, summer maximum temperature, and summer maximum temperature anomaly. Three overarching categories emerged through the document analysis process: preventive strategies (n=299, 63.9%), risk factors (n=94, 20.1%), and treatment (n=75, 16.0%). Activity modification, which included information on rescheduling games and extra breaks, was the most common intervention. Cricket, soccer, swimming, and triathlon had the most complete set of heat resources. During the 2020–2021 summer period a total of 1245 measurements were recorded across five artificial sports surfaces: athletics, hockey, lawn bowls, soccer, tennis. The lawn bowls turf was the hottest surface with a mean surface temperature of 54.43 (± 13.46) °C. An increase in surface temperature corresponded to an increase in air temperature, wet bulb temperature and a decrease in relative humidity but the effect varied across the five surfaces. An increase in solar radiation and air temperature also corresponded to an increase in surface temperature. On all five surfaces measured, the BOM air temperatures were the lowest, followed by the on-site air temperatures and then the COB air temperatures on all surfaces. The highest Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measurements of 24.38 (± 2.39) °C were recorded by the COB sensor, while the lowest WBGT measurements 20.76 (± 1.99) °C were recorded by the BOM. There was a statistically significant difference in the WBGT categorisation between on-site estimate measurements and BOM measurements, p <0.001. The incidence of heat-related hospitalisations and ED presentations provides a baseline from which heat-related guidelines and interventions can be developed, evaluated, and modified. Heat resources considered in the document analysis suggest EHI is preventable if appropriate precautions are implemented. With a focus on preventing EHI, heat resources mainly provided recommendations on modifying activities and reducing exposure to extreme conditions. These results imply the EHI risk posed by artificial sport surfaces are not uniform and safety polices should be updated to reflect the link between air temperature and surface temperature. Understanding how surface temperature is influenced by air temperature, solar radiation and cloud cover allows for more accurate predictions of playing conditions on these artificial sport surfaces. Differences were observed between the individual meteorological measurements, the WBGT measurements and the heat stress categorisation. Overall, a significant discord existed for both individual meteorological variables and WBGT modelled from multiple sources of available data. The findings from this thesis have implications for athlete welfare and strengthening future interventions. Overall, this doctoral research project quantifies the scale of heat-related injuries, reviews the policies to address these heat-related injuries and provides new knowledge on the risk posed by artificial sports surfaces.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: As temperatures rise, the frequency of heatwaves, extreme summer heat and less night-time cooling increases. An uncontrolled increase in heat production affects performance and subsequently affects the health of the athlete resulting in exertional heat illness (EHI). EHI is a result of an uncontrollable rise in core body temperature arising from a thermoregulatory response. With rising temperatures, the risk of EHI when exercising or participating in sport increases. However, assessing the risk of EHI is contingent on accurate epidemiological data and addressing the risk of EHI is reliant on effective evidence-based interventions. This thesis assessed the risk of EHI through four interlinked studies: (
- Authors: Gonsalves, Marlon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: As temperatures rise, the frequency of heatwaves, extreme summer heat and less night-time cooling increases. An uncontrolled increase in heat production affects performance and subsequently affects the health of the athlete resulting in exertional heat illness (EHI). EHI is a result of an uncontrollable rise in core body temperature arising from a thermoregulatory response. With rising temperatures, the risk of EHI when exercising or participating in sport increases. However, assessing the risk of EHI is contingent on accurate epidemiological data and addressing the risk of EHI is reliant on effective evidence-based interventions. This thesis assessed the risk of EHI through four interlinked studies: (ⅰ) an analysis of heat-related sports and leisure hospitalisations and emergency department presentations to determine trends in incidence rates and compare them with meteorological trends; (ⅱ) a document analysis of all sports and leisure activity heat-related injury prevention resources in Australia to develop an understanding of the content within those resources; (ⅲ) an investigation of surface temperatures of commonly used artificial sports surfaces to assess the risk posed by such surfaces and measure the differences in microclimates; and, (ⅳ) an assessment of the concordance of meteorological data of multiple artificial sports surfaces with meteorological data from the nearest Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) weather station and a local City of Ballarat (COB) environmental monitoring system (EMS). A total of 1055 heat injury hospitalisations and emergency department (ED) presentations were recorded between July 2008 and June 2018, which included 171 sport-related hospitalisations,139 ED presentations, 83 leisure-related hospitalisations and 662 ED presentations. There were significant correlations between ED presentations for heat-related sports injuries and mean, minimum and maximum temperature, mean and maximum temperature anomaly, summer maximum temperature, and summer maximum temperature anomaly. Three overarching categories emerged through the document analysis process: preventive strategies (n=299, 63.9%), risk factors (n=94, 20.1%), and treatment (n=75, 16.0%). Activity modification, which included information on rescheduling games and extra breaks, was the most common intervention. Cricket, soccer, swimming, and triathlon had the most complete set of heat resources. During the 2020–2021 summer period a total of 1245 measurements were recorded across five artificial sports surfaces: athletics, hockey, lawn bowls, soccer, tennis. The lawn bowls turf was the hottest surface with a mean surface temperature of 54.43 (± 13.46) °C. An increase in surface temperature corresponded to an increase in air temperature, wet bulb temperature and a decrease in relative humidity but the effect varied across the five surfaces. An increase in solar radiation and air temperature also corresponded to an increase in surface temperature. On all five surfaces measured, the BOM air temperatures were the lowest, followed by the on-site air temperatures and then the COB air temperatures on all surfaces. The highest Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measurements of 24.38 (± 2.39) °C were recorded by the COB sensor, while the lowest WBGT measurements 20.76 (± 1.99) °C were recorded by the BOM. There was a statistically significant difference in the WBGT categorisation between on-site estimate measurements and BOM measurements, p <0.001. The incidence of heat-related hospitalisations and ED presentations provides a baseline from which heat-related guidelines and interventions can be developed, evaluated, and modified. Heat resources considered in the document analysis suggest EHI is preventable if appropriate precautions are implemented. With a focus on preventing EHI, heat resources mainly provided recommendations on modifying activities and reducing exposure to extreme conditions. These results imply the EHI risk posed by artificial sport surfaces are not uniform and safety polices should be updated to reflect the link between air temperature and surface temperature. Understanding how surface temperature is influenced by air temperature, solar radiation and cloud cover allows for more accurate predictions of playing conditions on these artificial sport surfaces. Differences were observed between the individual meteorological measurements, the WBGT measurements and the heat stress categorisation. Overall, a significant discord existed for both individual meteorological variables and WBGT modelled from multiple sources of available data. The findings from this thesis have implications for athlete welfare and strengthening future interventions. Overall, this doctoral research project quantifies the scale of heat-related injuries, reviews the policies to address these heat-related injuries and provides new knowledge on the risk posed by artificial sports surfaces.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: As temperatures rise, the frequency of heatwaves, extreme summer heat and less night-time cooling increases. An uncontrolled increase in heat production affects performance and subsequently affects the health of the athlete resulting in exertional heat illness (EHI). EHI is a result of an uncontrollable rise in core body temperature arising from a thermoregulatory response. With rising temperatures, the risk of EHI when exercising or participating in sport increases. However, assessing the risk of EHI is contingent on accurate epidemiological data and addressing the risk of EHI is reliant on effective evidence-based interventions. This thesis assessed the risk of EHI through four interlinked studies: (
Sport and leisure activities in the heat: What safety resources exist?
- Gonsalves, Marlon, O'Brien, Brendan, Twomey, Dara
- Authors: Gonsalves, Marlon , O'Brien, Brendan , Twomey, Dara
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 24, no. 8 (2021), p. 781-786
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: To conduct a document analysis of sports and leisure activity heat-related injury prevention resources in Australia and develop an understanding of the content within those resources. Design & Methods: Heat resources were included if they dealt specifically with, or could be extrapolated to, prevention of heat-related injuries. Collating strategies for the catalogue included: (1) a detailed search of the organisation's website and (2) an online search for sport specific heat resources. A content analysis of each resource was first performed, and descriptive codes were assigned to the data using qualitative data analysis software. Every coded text was recorded as an individual data point (n). Common sub-categories were identified by thematic analysis and collated under three broader categories. Results: A total of 468 data points were identified within the 64 heat resources found. Guidelines (n = 20) and policies (n = 18) were the most common type of resources followed by factsheets (n = 9), webpages (n = 8), laws and by-laws (n = 2). Three overarching categories emerged through the data analysis process: preventive strategies (n = 299, 63.9%), risk factors (n = 94, 20.1%), treatment (n = 75, 16.0%). Activity modification, which included information on rescheduling games and extra breaks, was the most common intervention. Cricket, soccer, swimming and triathlon had the most complete set of heat resources. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide an insight into the composition of heat-related sports injury prevention resources within Australia and identify areas for development. As the resources were incomplete for many sports, the development of more comprehensive heat safety resources is required to ensure the safety of participants. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
- Authors: Gonsalves, Marlon , O'Brien, Brendan , Twomey, Dara
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 24, no. 8 (2021), p. 781-786
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: To conduct a document analysis of sports and leisure activity heat-related injury prevention resources in Australia and develop an understanding of the content within those resources. Design & Methods: Heat resources were included if they dealt specifically with, or could be extrapolated to, prevention of heat-related injuries. Collating strategies for the catalogue included: (1) a detailed search of the organisation's website and (2) an online search for sport specific heat resources. A content analysis of each resource was first performed, and descriptive codes were assigned to the data using qualitative data analysis software. Every coded text was recorded as an individual data point (n). Common sub-categories were identified by thematic analysis and collated under three broader categories. Results: A total of 468 data points were identified within the 64 heat resources found. Guidelines (n = 20) and policies (n = 18) were the most common type of resources followed by factsheets (n = 9), webpages (n = 8), laws and by-laws (n = 2). Three overarching categories emerged through the data analysis process: preventive strategies (n = 299, 63.9%), risk factors (n = 94, 20.1%), treatment (n = 75, 16.0%). Activity modification, which included information on rescheduling games and extra breaks, was the most common intervention. Cricket, soccer, swimming and triathlon had the most complete set of heat resources. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide an insight into the composition of heat-related sports injury prevention resources within Australia and identify areas for development. As the resources were incomplete for many sports, the development of more comprehensive heat safety resources is required to ensure the safety of participants. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
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