Trends in Occupational Heat-Health Research in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Mapping Review.
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 1 Deaconess Road, Rosenberg Building, 2nd floor, MA, Boston, USA. [email protected].
- 2Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
- 3Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- 4Countway Library, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- 5Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 1 Deaconess Road, Rosenberg Building, 2nd floor, MA, Boston, USA.
Abstract
Purpose of review
Extreme heat is increasingly threatening the health of workers worldwide and disproportionately impacting workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This mapping review was conducted to characterize the existing literature and to identify key gaps in field assessments of heat stress impacts on workers in LMICs.Recent findings
A total of 210 reports were included in the analysis. Almost two-thirds of included articles reported on studies conducted in lower-middle income countries (65%), with most reports from the South-East Asia Region (40%) and from India (30%), Iran (16%), and China (9%). At-risk populations were underrepresented, with 39% of reports not including any female participants and only 10% specifying migrant status, with wide variation in reporting of additional demographic, occupational, and workplace characteristics. Manufacturing and agriculture were by far the occupations most studied (36% and 33%, respectively). The most common index of heat stress was the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), with a report-level average ranging from 17.1 to 38.5 °C, with peaks as high as 54.4 °C. The most commonly reported outcomes were cardiovascular responses (50%) such as heart rate and blood pressure, body temperatures (43%), and self-reported symptoms of heat illness or heat strain (35%). Among all reports, only 9% included some form of intervention to protect workers. This review identifies the key trends and gaps in populations, occupations, and regions evaluated in heat-health research. As emerging technologies facilitate research expansion, this mapping review can guide future efforts to promote comparability of studies, overcome gaps, and protect worker health.
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BibTeX
@article{wiskel2026trends,
title = {{Trends in Occupational Heat-Health Research in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Mapping Review.}},
author = {Tess Wiskel and Robert D Meade and Katherine Budeski and Neil Singh Bedi and Paul Bain and Caroline O Buckee and Satchit Balsari},
journal = {Current environmental health reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s40572-026-00567-1},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905195},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Trends in Occupational Heat-Health Research in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Mapping Review.
AU - Tess Wiskel
AU - Robert D Meade
AU - Katherine Budeski
AU - Neil Singh Bedi
AU - Paul Bain
AU - Caroline O Buckee
AU - Satchit Balsari
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Current environmental health reports
DO - 10.1007/s40572-026-00567-1
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905195
AB - Purpose of review Extreme heat is increasingly threatening the health of workers worldwide and disproportionately impacting workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This mapping review was conducted to characterize the existing literature and to identify key gaps in field assessments of heat stress impacts on workers in LMICs.Recent findings A total of 210 reports were included in the analysis. Almost two-thirds of included articles reported on studies conducted in lower-middle income countries (65%), with most reports from the South-East Asia Region (40%) and from India (30%), Iran (16%), and China (9%). At-risk populations were underrepresented, with 39% of reports not including any female participants and only 10% specifying migrant status, with wide variation in reporting of additional demographic, occupational, and workplace characteristics. Manufacturing and agriculture were by far the occupations most studied (36% and 33%, respectively). The most common index of heat stress was the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), with a report-level average ranging from 17.1 to 38.5 °C, with peaks as high as 54.4 °C. The most commonly reported outcomes were cardiovascular responses (50%) such as heart rate and blood pressure, body temperatures (43%), and self-reported symptoms of heat illness or heat strain (35%). Among all reports, only 9% included some form of intervention to protect workers. This review identifies the key trends and gaps in populations, occupations, and regions evaluated in heat-health research. As emerging technologies facilitate research expansion, this mapping review can guide future efforts to promote comparability of studies, overcome gaps, and protect worker health.
SN - 2196-5412
ER -