[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-455727-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-455727-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","novel-cooling-vest-with-personal-protective-equipment-alleviates-heat-strain-without-increasing-metabolic-demands-in-the-heat-scandj-work-environ-health","Novel cooling vest with personal protective equipment alleviates heat strain without increasing metabolic demands in the heat - ScandJ Work Environ Health","","Randomized crossover evidence evaluates how PPE affects thermoregulation and perceived comfort during simulated healthcare work in a hot, humid chamber. Twelve participants completed 100 minutes under three conditions: scrubs without PPE, scrubs with PPE, and scrubs with PPE plus a novel carbon-based cooling vest. Compared with PPE alone, the vest reduced core temperature and heart rate, improved thermal sensation, and delivered these benefits without increasing metabolic energy expenditure, supporting thermal stability during prolonged hot-environment medical tasks.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/novel-cooling-vest-with-personal-protective-equipment-alleviates-heat-strain-without-increasing-metabolic-demands-in-the-heat-scandj-work-environ-health/455727/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/novel-cooling-vest-with-personal-protective-equipment-alleviates-heat-strain-without-increasing-metabolic-demands-in-the-heat-scandj-work-environ-health/455727.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Valentina","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-06","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":30},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What problem does the study address?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Medical PPE can substantially increase heat strain by elevating metabolic heat production while impairing heat dissipation, especially in hot and humid conditions.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How was the cooling vest evaluated in the study?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"A randomized crossover design tested 12 participants performing 100 minutes of simulated healthcare activity under NoPPE, PPE, and PPE+Vest conditions in a climatic chamber.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What were the key outcomes when using the cooling vest?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Compared with PPE alone, PPE+Vest attenuated heat strain by lowering core temperature and heart rate and improving thermal sensation without increasing metabolic energy expenditure.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},455727,1791187573,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":106,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":30,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":112},13056703020460,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/be000253dac470eee5d?_k=1778207105932848923","ScandJ Work Environ Health. 2026;52(1):19–30. doi:10.5271/sjweh.4261  \nNovel cooling vest with personal protective equipment alleviates heat strain without increasing metabolic demands in the heat  \nby Patarawadee Sainiyom, MSc, 1 Vitoon Saengsirisuwan, PhD,2 Clarence Hong WeiLeow, BSc,3 Jason Kai Wei Lee, PhD,3,4,5 Juthamard Surapongchai, PhD 1  \nSainiyom P, Saengsirisuwan V, Leow CHW, Lee JKW, Surapongchai J. Novel cooling vest with personal protective equipment alleviates heat strain without increasing metabolic demands in the heat. ScandJ Work Environ Health. 2026;52(1):19–30 .  \nObjective Wearing medical personal protective equipment (PPE) substantially increases heat strain by elevating metabolic heat production while impairing heat dissipation. Cooling vests are a practical countermeasure, yet their efficiency depends on thermal conductivity and comfort. This study examined the thermoregulatory and perceptual responses to PPE use and evaluated the efficacy of a novel carbon-based cooling vest with enhanced heat transfer capacity.  \nMethods A randomized crossover design was employed in which 12 participants completed 100 minutes of simulated healthcare activity in a climatic chamber (32 °C, 70% RH) under three conditions: medical scrubs (NoPPE), scrubs with PPE (PPE), and scrubs with PPE plus the cooling vest (PPE+Vest) . Physiological, thermoregulatory, and perceptual variables were continuously monitored across conditions.  \nResults Compared with PPE alone, PPE+Vest markedly attenuated heat strain, lowering core temperature [PPE 38.4, standard deviation (SD) 0.4, 0C versus PPE+Vest 37.5 (SD 0.4) 0C, P=0.001] and heart rate [PPE 123 (SD 11) bpm versus PPE+Vest 107 (SD 15) bpm, P\u003C0.001], while improving thermal sensation [PPE 2.0 (SD 0.8) versus PPE+Vest 0.8 (SD 0.8), P=0.006]. These thermoregulatory benefits occurred without an increase in metabolic energy expenditure [PPE 317 (SD 50) kcal versus PPE+Vest 317 (SD 53) kcal, P=0.891] .  \nConclusions The novel carbon-based cooling vest effectively suppressed heat storage by enhancing conductive heat transfer, leading to core and skin temperatures comparable to NoPPE. Importantly, despite its additional weight, the vest did not impose extra metabolic demands, offering a practical strategy to maintain thermal comfort and physiological stability during prolonged medical work in hot environments.  \nKey terms carbon composite; cooling modality; heat stress; medical PPE; metabolism.  \nHealthcare workers may wear full-body personal protective equipment (PPE) for extended periods in specific high-risk situations, such as when treating patients with airborne or highly contagious infections in isolation wards, field hospitals, or during a decontamination procedure. While PPE provides essential protection, it limits evaporative and convective heat loss (1) . In hot and humid environments, this can result in progressive heat accumulation, leading to thermal strain. Elevated body core temperature (Tc), discomfort, reduced concentration, fatigue, and impaired task performance were associated with a decline in medical and patient safety (2, 3) . These outcomes are particularly relevant for  \nhealthcare personnel who perform critical tasks under time pressure, where heat strain could compromise concentration, efficiency, and well-being (2, 4) .  \nTo counteract such risks, cooling vests represent a practical solution that does not interfere with workers’external environment. The benefits of cooling vests help sustain work performance, reduce discomfort, and enhance tolerance during prolonged PPE wearing in hot environments (5, 6) . Previous approaches using ice-based, phase change material (PCM) and liquid cooling vests have demonstrated effectiveness in alleviating heat strain by reducing Tc, skin temperature (Tsk), heart rate (HR), and heat storage (7–9) . However, their  \n1 Faculty of Physical Therapy, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.  \n2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of","cbCaidfNDJ6Hb0p8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidfNDJ6Hb0p8","pdf",2003195,12,"English","# Objective\n# Methods\n# Results\n# Conclusions\n# Background and Rationale\n## Cooling vests and prior approaches\n## Limitations of ice/water and PCM designs","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the study address?\",\"answer\":\"Medical PPE can substantially increase heat strain by elevating metabolic heat production while impairing heat dissipation, especially in hot and humid conditions.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the cooling vest evaluated in the study?\",\"answer\":\"A randomized crossover design tested 12 participants performing 100 minutes of simulated healthcare activity under NoPPE, PPE, and PPE+Vest conditions in a climatic chamber.\"},{\"question\":\"What were the key outcomes when using the cooling vest?\",\"answer\":\"Compared with PPE alone, PPE+Vest attenuated heat strain by lowering core temperature and heart rate and improving thermal sensation without increasing metabolic energy expenditure.\"}]","Novel cooling vest with personal protective equipment alleviates heat strain without increasing metabolic demands in the heat - ScandJ Work Environ Health | PDF",1790744005]