Mitigating Heat Stress Among Rickshaw Drivers in Bangladesh
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Battery-powered rickshaw.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Core Temperature, Telomere Length, Mean Leukocyte, Kidney Function Issue. Basic parameters: from 40 years · Male.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
How Does Heat Stress Affect Telomere Length? A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial in Urban Bangladesh
Overview
The goal of the experimental study is to understand the impact of heat stress on core temperature and telomere length. Investigators will recruit rickshaw drivers who use manual power to push their rickshaws and randomly assign half of them to receive battery-powered rickshaws to use for four months. Investigators will assess how this change impacts their core body temperature while they work, the length of their telomeres (caps on the end of DNA that are associated with aging), and kidney function.
Detailed description
Personal exposure to heat may be elevated above ambient temperatures if an individual is very active (which generates metabolic heat) or wears clothing that prevents cooling. Age can influence the consequences of heat stress. Older adults are at elevated risk of adverse impacts from heat stress due to their reduced ability to dissipate heat. Heat stress is particularly high among outdoor workers. South Asia has millions of bicycle rickshaw drivers, who use their muscles or battery power to pull hundreds of pounds of passengers and goods on modified bicycles. When manual rickshaw drivers rest to cool off, they reduce their already meager income. Heat stress not only threatens their livelihoods and thereby their right to an adequate standard of living but also their right to work, given that they have few employable skills other than manual labor. South Asia faces the greatest current and predicted loss in disability-adjusted life years due to heat stress, and heat stress is particularly strong in informal settlements. As such, the investigators plan to conduct this study in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The overall hypothesis is that driving a battery-powered rickshaw will reduce heat strain. The investigators will evaluate the impact of driving a battery-powered rickshaw on core temperature (primary outcome), telomere length, kidney function, heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep quality, self-reported thermal comfort, mental health, wellness, and fatigue (secondary outcomes).
Interventions
- Device Battery-powered rickshaw
A battery-powered rickshaw is a rickshaw where the wheels are turned by a small electric motors powered by a battery.
Primary outcome measures
- Core temperature [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 weeks post-intervention]
Secondary outcome measures (5)
- Relative Leucocyte Telomere Length [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 16 weeks post-intervention]
- Kidney function [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 weeks post-intervention]
- Heart rate [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 weeks post-intervention]
- Heart rate variability [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 weeks post-intervention]
- Sleep quality [Time frame: 0 (pre-intervention) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 weeks post-intervention]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Reports driving a manual rickshaw at least five days per week for at least 8 hours per day for the past 12 months
Exclusion criteria
- Reports driving a battery-powered rickshaw in the past 12 months
- Has hypertension, as measured by our study staff
- Has diabetes, as measured by our staff
- Reports diagnosis with cardiovascular disease / chronic cardiac condition
- Reports diagnosis with respiratory disease / chronic respiratory condition
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Single group
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
Study locations
Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06956430 · 2023-05-16316