Thermal imaging in old and frail in the community

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An observational study to assess thermal comfort of frail older people in a care home setting

• IRAS ID

  215549

• Contact name

  Charmaine Childs

• Contact email

  c.childs@shu.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 6 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Summary of Research

  Thermal comfort (TC) is a complex interaction involving physiological, social, cultural and clothing factors.
  In hospital and in care homes, health-issues (frailty, dementia, immobility) can affect a person's perception of TC.
  In the UK 18,000 care homes provide living-communities for approximately 400,000 people. Many are old/frail and vulnerable to indoor chilling. A quality indicator for a good ''home'' environment is related to TC. However, in multiply-occupied rooms TC varies between individuals. The challenge in health-assessment is in identifying ''uncomfortable'' residents (too hot/too cold). As TC is a subjective perception; a carer cannot reliably predict TC in another person.

  Objectives
  • Use infra-red thermal imaging (IRTI) to 'see' the body temperature map
  • Demonstrate prevalence of TC/thermal discomfort
  • Demonstrate whether there is correspondence/dissociation between TC self-report and IRTI-measured body/extremity (hand) temperature

  Deliverables-Establish if TC can be predicted by an independent non-invasive imaging device

  Expected achievements- by linking with NHS colleagues at our NHS Trust we will have a two-way pathway to health impact:
  a) identification of eligible adults via NHS intermediary care- and awaiting care home residency
  b) expert guidance and collaboration with our NHS colleagues (e.g co-applicant Dr ALI Ali, Consultant in Stroke and Geriatric medicine and Dr Fowler-Davies)
  c) translation of results from community to NHS setting e.g. stoke/aged care medicine for improved thermal care on the hospital wards

  Longer-term the expected achievement (5-7 years)-working with NHS colleagues and design/product development teams is expected to lead towards a commercialisation pathway.

  Summary of Results

  The study aim was to understand the relationship between self-reported thermal sensation and extremity skin temperature in care home residents with and without dementia. These measurements were conducted using thermal imaging of the non-dominant hand and forearm.
  Sixty-nine adults (60–101 years of age) were studied and categorised into non dementia or dementia groups. The majority of care home residents in this study were in the older-old age group; 27% aged
  90 years or more and with approximately half of the group with cognitive deficits.
  Although equal numbers of residents per group rated the environment as ‘neutral’ (comfortable), resident ratings for ‘cool/cold’ were more frequent amongst those with dementia compared with no dementia.
  The older adults had lower mean skin temperatures and were in lower indoor temperatures, a comparable percentage of residents were satisfied with the environment and rated their skin temperature as neutral or comfortable. It is possible that the older person’s thermal perception of the environment is ‘blunted’.
  We have observed features of thermal blunting in the older residents, particularly those with dementia where we observed residents with low extremity (digit) temperatures corresponding to ‘cold hands’ reporting thermal sensation as neutral (or comfortable)

  We felt that the use of thermal imaging could help with providing appropriate thermal care for older adults.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/EM/0483

• Date of REC Opinion

  19 Jan 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion