NCT05484739

Heat Waves and the Elderly - Cooling Modalities

Heat Waves in the Elderly: Reducing Thermal and Cardiovascular Consequences

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 100 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess how well cooling modalities work in reducing cardiovascular stress of the elderly to heat wave conditions

Detailed description

Heat waves are lethal and cause a disproportionate number of deaths in the elderly relative to any other age group. Such deaths are primarily cardiovascular, not hyperthermia itself, in origin. The central hypothesis of this work is that cardiovascular stress during heat wave conditions in the elderly can be reduced by applying low-energy cooling modalities. Comprehensive cardiovascular and thermal responses in the elderly will be evaluated during exposure to two prolonged heat wave conditions: hot and humid (replicating the 1995 Chicago heat wave), very hot and dry (replicating the 2018 Los Angeles heat wave). With each of these heat wave conditions individuals will be exposed to the following cooling modalities: no cooling (control), water spray, fan use, and fan use plus water spray.

Conditions

• Aging
• Hyperthermia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Water Spray	Participants will receive water spraying on their body throughout the climate chamber exposure.
OTHER	Fan	Participants will be exposed to a fan throughout the climate chamber exposure.
OTHER	Water Spray and Fan	Participants will receive both water spraying and a fan throughout the climate chamber exposure.
OTHER	Control	Participants will NOT receive either water spray or a fan exposure.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-02-21
• Primary completion: 2026-08-31
• Completion: 2026-08-31
• First posted: 2022-08-02
• Last updated: 2025-10-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States