title: Students' Perceived Heat-Health Symptoms Increased with Warmer Classroom Temperatures.
abstract: Temperatures in Africa are expected to increase by the end of the century. Heat-related health impacts and perceived health symptoms are potentially a problem, especially in public schools with limited resources. Students (n = 252) aged ~14-18 years from eight high schools completed an hourly heat-health symptom log over 5 days. Data loggers measured indoor classroom temperatures. A high proportion of students felt tired (97.2%), had low concentration (96.8%) and felt sleepy (94.1%) during at least one hour on any day. There were statistically significant correlations, when controlling for school cluster effect and time of day, between indoor temperatures ≥32 °C and students who felt tired and found it hard to breathe. Consistently higher indoor classroom temperatures were observed in classrooms constructed of prefabricated asbestos sheeting with corrugated iron roof and converted shipping container compared to brick classrooms. Longitudinal studies in multiple seasons and different classroom building types are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. shalinb@joburg.org.za.
authors.forename: Shalin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bidassey-Manilal
authors.affiliation: Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. cwright@mrc.ac.za.|Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. cwright@mrc.ac.za.
authors.forename: Caradee Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. engelbrechtjc@tut.ac.za.
authors.forename: Jacobus C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Engelbrecht
authors.affiliation: Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. patricia.albers@mrc.ac.za.
authors.forename: Patricia N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Albers
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. rgarland@csir.co.za.|Climatology Research Group, North West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa. rgarland@csir.co.za.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Garland
authors.affiliation: Tlhoeko Environmental Consultants, Maseru 100, Lesotho. matooanemr@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mamopeli
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matooane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000349:Africa; D005260:Female; D018882:Heat Stress Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014691:Ventilation
keywords: South Africa; climate change; health; school; temperature