Heat stress in Primary Health Care: A clinical review

• Autor(a) principal: Floss, Mayara
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Barros, Enrique Falceto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Medicina de Família e Comunidade (Online)
• DOI: 10.5712/rbmfc15(42)1948
• Texto Completo: https://rbmfc.org.br/rbmfc/article/view/1948
• topic: Heat Stress Disorders; Hot Temperature; Heat Wave (Meteorology); Heat Exhaustion; Trastornos de Estrés por Calor; Calor; Ola de Calor; Agotamiento por Calor; Transtornos de Estresse por Calor; Temperatura Alta; Onda de Calor; Exaustão por Calor

Introduction: The nocive exposure to heat gets more attention with anthropogenic global warming, and Primary Health Care (PHC) has a growing role in this scenario. In Brazil heat waves between 2014 and 2015 lasted longer than in previous years. Further, in addition between 2000-2015 the association between temperature and hospitalizations varied according to the duration of heat exposure. Therefore, the aim of this review is to perform an update on clinical management of heat related pathologies in PHC. Methodology: The ACCESSS database was searched using the evidence-based health care pyramid 5.0, where we identified 103 synthesized summaries for clinical reference with words “Heat stress”, “Heat Stroke”, “Heat Wave” and “Heat Exhaustion”, but only three fell within the scope of this study. Results and Discussion: Heat stress is a common, neglected and preventable condition that affects several patients, it starts with a poor adaptation to heat that if it is not adjusted it can generate a cascade of inflammatory events. Heat stress is characterized by nonspecific symptoms such as malaise, headache and nausea. The treatment involves patient monitoring and cooling, ensuring adequate hydration. Heat exhaustion, if untreated, can progress to heatstroke, a serious illness that can lead to coma and death, involving central nervous system dysfunction - requiring more aggressive treatment than cooling.