The reliability of a portable steam sauna pod for the whole-body passive heating of humans
Willmott AGB, James CA, Hayes M, Maxwell NS, Roberts J, Gibson OR
Journal of thermal biology · 3 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2023-10-31 · J Therm Biol · vol. 118 · p. 103743
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 4 citations · more than 65% of similar papers · 0.5× the field average
- References
- 58 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Infrared Thermography in Medicine · Textile materials and evaluations
- Keywords
- Point of delivery, Heat stress, Heart rate, Animal science, Reliability (semiconductor), Medicine, Thermal sensation, Relative humidity, Skin temperature, Biomedical engineering, Thermal comfort, Blood pressure, Internal medicine, Meteorology, Biology, Botany, Physics
- MeSH
- humans, steam bath, reproducibility of results, heating, steam, body temperature regulation, heart rate, adult, male, hot temperature, young adult
6 authors
From GB, HK, CN
- Ashley G. B. Willmott · correspondingAnglia Ruskin University; University of Brighton
- Carl JamesHong Kong Baptist University; Hong Kong Footwear Federation
- MARK A. HAYESUniversity of Brighton
- Neil MaxwellUniversity of Brighton
- Justin RobertsAnglia Ruskin University
- Oliver R. GibsonBrunel University of London
Abstract
Introduction
Passive heating is receiving increasing attention within human performance and health contexts. A low-cost, portable steam sauna pod may offer an additional tool for those seeking to manipulate physiological (cardiovascular, thermoregulatory and sudomotor) and perceptual responses for improving sporting or health profiles. This study aimed to 1) report the different levels of heat stress and determine the pods' inter-unit reliability, and 2) quantify the reliability of physiological and perceptual responses to passive heating.
Method
In part 1, five pods were assessed for temperature and relative humidity (RH) every 5 min across 70 min of heating for each of the 9 settings. In part 2, twelve males (age: 24 ± 4 years) completed two 60 min trials of passive heating (3 × 20 min at 44 °C/99% RH, separated by 1 week). Heart rate (HR), rectal (Trectal) and tympanic temperature (Ttympanic) were recorded every 5 min, thermal comfort (Tcomfort) and sensation (Tsensation) every 10 min, mean arterial pressure (MAP) at each break period and sweat rate (SR) after exiting the pod.
Results
In part 1, setting 9 provided the highest temperature (44.3 ± 0.2 °C) and longest time RH remained stable at 99% (51±7 min). Inter-unit reliability data demonstrated agreement between pods for settings 5-9 (intra-class correlation [ICC] >0.9), but not for settings 1-4 (ICC rectal, HR, MAP, SR, and Tcomfort, but not for Ttympanic or Tsensation. A peak Trectal of 38.09 ± 0.30 °C, HR of 124 ± 15 b min-1 and a sweat loss of 0.73 ± 0.33 L were reported. No between-visit differences (p > 0.05) were observed for Trectal, Ttympanic, Tsensation or Tcomfort, however HR (+3 b.min-1) and MAP (+4 mmHg) were greater in visit 1 vs. 2 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Portable steam sauna pods generate reliable heat stress between-units. The highest setting (44 °C/99% RH) also provides reliable but modest adjustments in physiological and perceptual responses.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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