Evaluating compliance with HeatSuite for monitoring in situ physiological and perceptual responses and personal environmental exposure.

Ravanelli, Nicholas; Lefebvre, KarLee; Mornas, Adèle; Gagnon, Daniel · NPJ Digit Med · 2025

case_series · Level IV

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Abstract

Extreme heat events pose a significant health threat to vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those living with disease. Recent extreme heat events highlight that heat-related mortality often occurs indoors, urging a need to better understand how at-risk populations physiologically and behaviorally respond in their natural environment. However, a low-cost and scalable all-in-one solution to comprehensively monitor individuals during periods of extreme heat does not presently exist. We developed HeatSuite, a fully data-governed multimodal sensor platform, that can monitor the local environmental conditions, and physiological and behavioural responses, of free-living individuals. Compliance to the platform was assessed over 28 days among 21 older individuals living in low-income housing (70 ± 7 y, body mass index: 28.7 ± 6.3). Moderate (>77%) to near optimal (94%) compliance was observed among the physiological and perceptual metrics obtained. In conclusion, HeatSuite is an effective and comprehensive solution for at-home monitoring of at-risk populations.