Assessing the Effect of Cool Roofs on Health Using Smartwatches

NCT ID: NCT06579963

Last Updated: 2024-12-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

800 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-09-04

Study Completion Date

2026-01-31

Brief Summary

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Ambient air temperatures in Asian, Latin American, African, and Pacific climate hotspots have broken record highs in 2024. Solutions are needed to build heat resilience in communities and adapt to increasing heat from climate change. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings may passively reduce indoor temperatures and energy use to protect home occupants from extreme heat. Occupants living in poor housing conditions globally - for example in informal settlements, slums, and low-socioeconomic households - are susceptible to increased heat exposure.

Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous physical, mental and social health conditions. The worst adverse health effects are experienced in communities that are least able to adapt to heat exposure. By reducing indoor temperatures, cool roof application may improve heart health, sleep and physical activity in household occupants.

The long-term research goal is to identify viable passive housing adaptation technologies with proven health benefits to reduce the burden of heat stress in communities affected by heat globally. To meet this goal, the investigators will use smartwatches to measure the effects cool roof application on heart health, sleep and physical activity in four urban climate hotspots: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Hermosillo, Mexico; Ahmedabad, India; and Niue, Oceania.

Detailed Description

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Increasing heat exposure from climate change is causing and exacerbating heat-related illnesses in millions worldwide - particularly in low resource settings. June 2024 was the 13th consecutive hottest month on record globally - shattering previous records. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen numerous health conditions. Adaptation is essential for protecting people from increasing heat exposure. The built environment, especially homes, are ideal for deploying interventions to reduce heat exposure and accelerate adaptation efforts. However, evidence is currently lacking on a global scale - generated through empirical studies - guiding the uptake of interventions to reduce indoor heat stress in low resource settings.

Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings passively reduce indoor temperatures and lower energy use, offering protection to home occupants from extreme heat. Continuous monitoring of health and wellbeing using smartwatches can provide insight into important parameters such as heart rate, sleep and physical activity - which are all affected by heat. Using smartwatches, the investigators will also continuously measure health and wellbeing outcomes during the day and night. The investigators will conduct a global multi-centre study to investigate the effects of cool-roof use on heart rate, sleep and physical activity in four urban climate hotspots - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (sub-Saharan Africa), Ahmedabad, India (Asia), Niue (Oceania), and Sonora, Mexico (Latin America). These sites represent hotspots where people experience a triple burden from heat exposure, chronic health issues and vulnerable housing conditions (slums, informal settlements and low socioeconomic housing). They also exhibit diversity in climate profiles, housing typology, level of socioeconomic development, population density and rates of urbanisation.

This trial will quantify whether cool roofs are an effective passive home cooling intervention with beneficial health effects for vulnerable populations in four locations. Findings will inform global policy responses on scaling cool roof implementation to protect people from increasing heat exposure driven by climate change.

Conditions

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Heart Rate All-day Steps Distance Walked Active Minutes Moderate-intensity Activity Minutes Vigorous-intensity Activity Duration Sleep Quantity Time in Sleep Stages Awake Duration Sleep Score

Keywords

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Hot Temperature Humidity Housing Wearable Smartwatch Heart rate Cardiovascular Physical activity Sleep Cool roof Heat stress

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Investigators Outcome Assessors
Trial participants will be aware of the intervention to which they have been allocated, and the research fieldworkers will be aware of the intervention allocation. The trial steering committee members and trial statistician will remain blinded until the end of trial period and data collection.

Study Groups

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Cool roof

Households will receive sunlight reflecting 'cool roof' coating on their roofs.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Cool roof

Intervention Type OTHER

Cool roofs are a sunlight reflecting roof coating that can reduce indoor temperature. Cool roofs have high solar reflectance (reflecting the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of sunlight, reducing heat transfer to the surface of a roof) and high thermal emittance (radiating absorbed solar energy).

No cool roof

No cool roof application. Households will keep their original roofing for the duration of the trial.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Cool roof

Cool roofs are a sunlight reflecting roof coating that can reduce indoor temperature. Cool roofs have high solar reflectance (reflecting the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of sunlight, reducing heat transfer to the surface of a roof) and high thermal emittance (radiating absorbed solar energy).

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Permanent household resident

Exclusion Criteria

* Roof damage, inaccessible or instability of roof adversely affecting cool roof coating application.
* Participant unable to provide written/verbal informed consent. Participants will be excluded if they are not willing or able to wear a smartwatch.
* In Mexico and Niue, participants will be excluded if they do not have a smartphone with an internet connection that can connect to the smartwatch.
* Only one participant per household.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Aditi Bunker

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Sika Services AG

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

SOPREMA

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Engineered Polymer Solutions (EPS B.V.)

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Resene

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

Pacific Community

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Habitat for Humanity

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

The Tindall Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Labfront

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Indian Institute of Public Health, India

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Boston University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Rutgers University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Heidelberg University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Responsible Party

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Aditi Bunker

Co-Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University Joseph Ki-Zerbo

Ouagadougou, , Burkina Faso

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar

Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, India

Site Status RECRUITING

Instituto Tecnológico de Hermosillo

Hermosillo, Sanora, Mexico

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Niue

Alofi, , Niue

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Burkina Faso India Mexico Niue

Central Contacts

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Aditi Bunker, Dr

Role: CONTACT

Phone: +49 6221 565344

Email: [email protected]

Collin Tukuitonga, Sir. Dr.

Role: CONTACT

Phone: +6493737599

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Abdramane Soura

Role: primary

Anish Sinha

Role: primary

Jose Antonio Hoyo Montano

Role: primary

Noah Bunkley

Role: primary

Role: backup

Other Identifiers

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226745/Z/22/Z

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

3728163

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id