Are Workers with Type 2 Diabetes at Greater Risk of Complications From Working in a Hot Environment? A Field Study in the Steel Industry

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of heat stress in healthy individuals is different from those with chronic diseases like diabetes. While exposed to heat, complications caused by diabetes may lead to problems in body temperature regulation. Due to the fact that diabetic workers are less efficient in hot environments, researchers are encouraged to evaluate this condition. Methods: The current study incorporates 30 young males. In the first stage, individuals with the history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), who frequently had exposure to heat at work, were selected and compared with non-diabetic workers as the control group. Indicators like deep body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, physiological strain index (PSI), and perceptual strain index (PeSI) were measured and recorded. Eventually, data were evaluated and analyzed using repeated-measure design, independent t test, and its nonparametric equivalent, The Mann-Whitney U test. Results: In the two groups of type 2 diabetes and control group, following one hour of heat exposure, the median heart rate was 115 (18) and 99 (21) (P = 0.008), respectively, mean deep body temperature was 37.6 (0.37) and 36.95 (0.41) (P < 0.001), mean PSI was 3.01 (0.93) and 2.08 (1.0) (P = 0.021), and mean PeSI was 7.82 (1.43) and 6.12 (2.14) (P = 0.032), which were significantly different. In addition, no significant difference was observed between the skin temperatures of the two groups after one hour of exposure to heat. Conclusions: According to the results, workers with type 2 diabetes are exposed to more heat strain than the control group in the same hot environment.