Cooling vests alleviate perceptual heat strain perceived by COVID-19 nurses

Cooling vests alleviate heat strain. We quantified the perceptual and physiological heat strain and assessed the effects of wearing a 21°C phase change material cooling vest on these measures during work shifts of COVID-19 nurses wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Seventeen nurses were monitored on two working days, consisting of a control (PPE only) and a cooling vest day (PPE + cooling vest). Sub-PPE air temperature, gastrointestinal temperature (T_gi), and heart rate (HR) were measured continuously. Thermal comfort (2 [1-4] versus 1 [1-2], p_condtition < 0.001) and thermal sensation (5 [4-7] versus 4 [2-7], p_condition < 0.001) improved in the cooling vest versus control condition. Only 18% of nurses reported thermal discomfort and 36% a (slightly) warm thermal sensation in the cooling vest condition versus 81% and 94% in the control condition (OR (95%CI) 0.05 (0.01-0.29) and 0.04 (<0.01-0.35), respectively). Accordingly, perceptual strain index was lower in the cooling vest versus control condition (5.7 ± 1.5 versus 4.3 ± 1.7, p_condition < 0.001, respectively). No differences were observed for the physiological heat strain index T_gi and rating of perceived exertion across conditions. Average HR was slightly lower in the cooling vest versus the control condition (85 ± 12 versus 87 ± 11, p_condition = 0.025). Although the physiological heat strain among nurses using PPE was limited, substantial perceptual heat strain was experienced. A 21°C phase change material cooling vest can successfully alleviate the perceptual heat strain encountered by nurses wearing PPE.