Study protocol for an observational panel study of heat strain in the general adult population in Basse Santa Su, The Gambia

Abstract

Heat is among the most hazardous environmental factors for human health, but humidity’s role in heat-related health effects remains unclear. This study will assess the effect of humid heat and other environmental conditions on health in a representative population in Basse Santa Su, The Gambia, a region at high risk of humid heat exposure. We will examine the association between humid heat exposure and physiological heat strain, identify vulnerable sub-groups, and evaluate adaptive behaviours. We will recruit 60–90 healthy adults from Basse Santa Su and surrounding areas. Participants will be monitored for four non-consecutive weeks across dry (November–May) and rainy (June–October) seasons. Daily questionnaires will assess activities, thermal comfort, adaptation behaviours, heat strain symptoms, mood, and sleep quality. Wearables will collect time-resolved personal and indoor exposure (temperature and humidity), heat strain, and further physiological covariates. A fixed monitoring network will measure outdoor air temperature, humidity, air quality, and environmental noise. Descriptive analyses will assess baseline characteristics, heat stress and heat strain. Case-time series analysis with distributed non-linear lagged models will estimate immediate and delayed associations between exposure to humid heat and physiological heat strain. Stratified analyses by individual characteristics will explore possible vulnerability groups. Multiple exposure models and interaction terms will explore cumulative effects of multiple environmental factors. Multilinear land use regression modelling will develop high-resolution maps of temperature, humidity, and heat stress. This study will provide new insights into humid heat’s effect on health, particularly in low-income, high-exposure settings. This study addresses limitations in prior epidemiological research on heat, humidity, and health, including lack of high-resolution and individual-level data, and limited focus on humidity as a heat-health driver, on non-mortality outcomes and on climate-vulnerable populations. This study combines high-resolution microclimate mapping and individual-level measurements which may inform future epidemiological studies and heat-health interventions.