| Application: | 26284, Temperatures and health - Using accelerometer data to understand experienced temperatures and their relationship to sleep, mental and physical health |
| Title: | The associations between thermal variety and health: Implications for space heating energy use |
| Size: | 816474 B |
| Archived: | 4 Nov 2021 |
| Stability: | Complete |
| Personal: | No individual-level data |
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Notes
Fossil fuels dominate domestic heating in temperate climates. In the EU, domestic space heating accounts for around 20% of final energy demand. Reducing domestic demand temperatures would reduce energy demand. However, cold exposure has been shown to be associated with adverse health conditions. Using an observational dataset of 77,762 UK Biobank participants, we examine the standard deviation of experienced temperature (named here thermal variety) measured by a wrist worn activity and temperature monitor. After controlling for covariates such as age, activity level and obesity, we show that thermal variety is 0.15 C 95% CI [0.07-0.23] higher for participants whose health satisfaction was extremely happy compared to extremely unhappy . Higher thermal variety is also associated with a lower risk of having morbidities related to excess winter deaths. We argue that significant CO2 savings would be made by increasing thermal variety and reducing domestic demand temperatures in the healthiest homes. However, great care is needed to avoid secondary health impacts due to mould and damp. Vulnerable households should receive increased attention.Application 26284
Temperatures and health - Using accelerometer data to understand experienced temperatures and their relationship to sleep, mental and physical health
Air temperatures can pose significant health risks. Various studies have assessed typical temperatures inside homes at fixed spatial locations; however, temperatures experienced by people have received little attention even though they are the ones that pose the health risks. Biobank provides a unique resource through the temperature data recorded incidentally by the accelerometer to look at these. Research questions: 1. What are typical and extreme temperatures experienced by participants and how do these relate to Public Health England guidelines? 2. Are experienced temperatures correlated with sleep/mental/physical health outcomes? 3. Are experienced temperatures correlated with sociodemographic and building characteristics? Experienced emperatures are an import factor related to health outcomes, as e.g. evidenced by higher winter deaths in the UK than other European countries which is linked to poor building stock. Showing the prevalene of extreme experienced temperatures will show the magnitude of the problem. Identification of who is most vulnerable to extreme temperatures will allow then targeting those to ensure less exposure to hazardous conditions. The research consists of analyzing the temperature data, light data, and accelerometer data. As a first step, the recordings will be downsampled. We will then use statistical analysis (descriptive, correlation, regression, multi-level modelling) to show links between temperatures and sleep, mental / physical health and buildings. The subset for whom accelerometry data is available.
| Lead investigator: | Dr Gesche Huebner |
| Lead institution: | University College London |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health