The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of room temperature on physiological and subjective responses to bathing in the elderly and the young. Dressing room temperatures were 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C (50%RH). Eight healthy young and eight elderly males stayed in the dressing room for 5 minutes, and bathed to a water temperature of 40°C for 8 minutes. After bathing, the subjects were exposed to the dressing room for 10 minutes. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), skin temperatures and thermal sensation were measured before, during and after bathing.In the dressing room, mean skin temperatures of the elderly at 10 and 15 °C were significantly higher than the young, and the elderly did not complain of the cold in the dressing room or of the hot water as much as the young did. SBPs of the elderly at 10, 15 and 20°C showed significantly greater increase before and after bathing. On the other hand, there were small increases in SBPs for the young only at 10 and 15°C. The decreases in SBP of the elderly during bathing were significantly greater than those in the young, especially in a colder dressing room. These physiological and subjective responses during winter bathing put the elderly at high risk of serious complications which lead to drowning in bathrooms. It is recommended that minimum bathroom and dressing room temperatures be higher for the elderly than the young, and between 20 and 25°C.Keywords: bathing, blood pressure, thermal comfort, elderly, heating system IntroductionThere were 14,249 accidental home deaths in Japan in 2010, of which 80.2% were among people over 65 years old. The most common reason for death was drowning (4,340), and of these 89.0% involved the elderly (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 2010). Moreover, 92.4% of such deaths in Japan occurred in private bathrooms. Previously, most deaths by drowning occurred during the summer in swimming pools, rivers and the sea. Recently, however, the number of deaths by drowning in bathtubs has increased, with a remarkable rise in deaths among the elderly. In 2010,

No abstract