Impact of passive heat stress on persons with spinal cord injury: Implications for Olympic spectators

Heat Acclimation for Special Populations

“…Empirical evidence to date, however, is notably limited regarding the assumed risks of heat injury among this cohort (Price, 2016), which could be due to a very small incidence count, lack of resources, or failures to collect data (Trbovich et al, 2019). Grobler et al (2019), for the first time, reported accurate medical records (level III evidence) during the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships held in the heat (venue wet-bulb globe temperature 24.6-36.0 • C).…”

“…For example, competitive wheelchair rugby match play (4 × 8-min quarter; ambient temperature, 18.4-20.9 • C; relative humidity, 31.1-45.1%) resulted in 39.3 • C core body temperature in elite players with a cervical SCI (C5/6-C7) (Griggs et al, 2017). A popular perception is therefore that athletes with tetraplegia, who exhibit greater disruption of evaporation (sweating) and convection (cutaneous vasodilation), should be prepared with appropriate cooling strategies during exercise in the heat provided they demonstrate heightened thermal strain (Griggs et al, 2019b;Trbovich et al, 2019). While this increase in core body temperature, especially if >39.0 • C, could be materially alarming, trained tetraplegic athletes who participate in indoor events (e.g., wheelchair basketball, rugby, and fencing) or outdoor sports (e.g., H1 para-cycling), exhibit no expected higher incidence rate of heat injury.…”

Tokyo-2020ne, Temperature and time for reflection

“…Kenya, USA, and Hungary should expect the highest ultraviolet exposure for countries winning more than 3 gold medals. Whilst there has been a focus on how the Tokyo heat/humidity will affect athletes, Trbovich, and colleagues [4] have provided a thorough account of how this will impact spectators at the Summer Games, especially persons with spinal cord injury. Their review article provides the most up-to-date knowledge on how persons with spinal cord injury respond to passive heat stress, recommendations for clinicians providing health care, and highlights future research to fill the gaps in the literature.…”

Risks of Heat Illness in Athletes With Spinal Cord Injury: Current Evidence and Needs

“…Empirical evidence to date, however, is notably limited regarding the assumed risks of heat injury among this cohort (Price, 2016 ), which could be due to a very small incidence count, lack of resources, or failures to collect data (Trbovich et al, 2019 ). Grobler et al ( 2019 ), for the first time, reported accurate medical records (level III evidence) during the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships held in the heat (venue wet-bulb globe temperature 24.6–36.0°C).…”

“…For example, competitive wheelchair rugby match play (4 ×8-min quarter; ambient temperature, 18.4–20.9°C; relative humidity, 31.1–45.1%) resulted in 39.3°C core body temperature in elite players with a cervical SCI (C5/6–C7) (Griggs et al, 2017 ). A popular perception is therefore that athletes with tetraplegia, who exhibit greater disruption of evaporation (sweating) and convection (cutaneous vasodilation), should be prepared with appropriate cooling strategies during exercise in the heat provided they demonstrate heightened thermal strain (Griggs et al, 2019b ; Trbovich et al, 2019 ). While this increase in core body temperature, especially if >39.0°C, could be materially alarming, trained tetraplegic athletes who participate in indoor events (e.g., wheelchair basketball, rugby, and fencing) or outdoor sports (e.g., H1 para-cycling), exhibit no expected higher incidence rate of heat injury.…”