Thermal comfort study for pregnant women in waiting areas of cold region hospitals

Abstract

Pregnant women exhibit unique physiological and psychological characteristics, as well as distinct patterns in waiting frequency and duration. Therefore, investigating the specific thermal needs of women at different stages of pregnancy to create a comfortable waiting environment holds significant importance. Utilizing subjective questionnaires alongside objective environmental measurements, this research investigated the thermal comfort of pregnant women and their family members within hospital waiting areas across three cold-region facilities. This study established mean thermal sensation vote models for diverse population groups (P < 0.05) and assessed the accuracy of the predicted mean vote (PMV) model and the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD). The findings indicated that neither the PMV nor the PPD was capable of precisely predicting thermal comfort amongst pregnant women at various gestational stages. The thermal neutral temperatures for accompanying family members, early pregnancy, mid-pregnancy and late pregnancy groups were 25.38, 24.99, 24.10 and 22.84 °C, respectively. Amongst the four population groups, the highest acceptable upper temperature limit was observed in family members, at 28.64 °C; the lowest was in the late pregnancy group, at 26.78 °C. These findings provide reference for setting hospital building environmental parameters and contribute to creating healthy and comfortable waiting environments.