Bathing and Indoor thermal environment: Modeling body temperature and preventing heat stroke

In Japan, the number of deaths from bathing-related heat stroke has increased rapidly over the last few years. Bathwater temperature and bathing duration have a major impact on body temperature, and extreme changes in body temperature can result in death. However, safe bathing habits have not been fully studied. Therefore, an existing human physiological model was extended to accurately predict body temperature during bathing. Furthermore, data from a field survey conducted in the 2012-2013 winter were analyzed and bathing habits were found to be affected by room temperature. The results of this study will be useful for promoting safe bathing habits that accommodate individual differences and show that heating of bathing-related rooms is recommended for preventing heat stroke due to bathing.