The experienced temperature sensitivity and regulation survey

Abstract

Individuals differ in thermosensitivity, thermoregulation, and zones of thermoneutrality and thermal comfort. Whereas temperature sensing and -effectuating processes occur in part unconsciously and autonomic, awareness of temperature and thermal preferences can affect thermoregulatory behavior as well. Quantification of trait-like individual differences of thermal preferences and experienced temperature sensitivity and regulation is therefore relevant to obtain a complete understanding of human thermophysiology. Whereas several scales have been developed to assess instantaneous appreciation of heat and cold exposure, a comprehensive scale dedicated to assess subjectively experienced autonomic or behavioral thermoregulatory activity has been lacking so far. We constructed a survey that specifically approaches these domains from a trait-like perspective, sampled 240 volunteers across a wide age range, and analyzed the emergent component structure. Participants were asked to report their thermal experiences, captured in 102 questions, on a 7-point bi-directional Likert scale. In a second set of 32 questions, participants were asked to indicate the relative strength of experiences across different body locations. Principal component analyses extracted 21 meaningful dimensions, which were sensitive to sex-differences and age-related changes. The questions were also assessed in a matched sample of 240 people with probable insomnia to evaluate the sensitivity of these dimensions to detect group differences in a case-control design. The dimensions showed marked mean differences between cases and controls. The survey thus has discriminatory value. It can freely be used by anyone interested in studying individual or group differences in thermosensitivity and thermoregulation.

Effects of Indoor Thermal Environment on Human Food Intake, Productivity, and Comfort: Pilot, Randomized, Crossover Trial

“…The survey results suggest that the control thermal environment may have been below the thermoneutral zone for these participants, while the warm environment may have been closer to the thermoneutral zone. These results are consistent with findings from other studies suggesting that women perceive the thermal environment of typical office settings as cold and with findings in men related to adaptive thermal comfort .…”

Skin temperature, sleep, and vigilance

“…Concertedly, these observations suggest that people with insomnia are less likely to profit from the effect of optimal skin temperature on sleep, yet more likely to experience adverse effects of suboptimal warm skin temperature on performance during daytime. The latter is strongly supported by a recent study that used a novel multi-factor survey that systematically addresses subjectively experienced thermoregulation and thermosensitivity: 240 people suffering from insomnia differed most strongly from 240 matched controls with the experienced adverse effect of warming up on fatigue (Van Someren et al, 2016). Also on most other factors queried by this survey, people with insomnia reported to be more sensitive.…”

The thermoception task: a thermal-imaging based procedure for measuring awareness of changes in peripheral body temperature

“…The Experienced Temperature Sensitivity and Regulation Scale ETSRS; 50 is a questionnaire designed to assess perceived thermosensitivity and autonomic or behavioural thermoregulatory activity. We selected and administered two sub-scales: the Heat-induced warming subscale is composed of 5 items and measures participants’ subjective perception of how quickly or intensely different body parts, like, for example, hands, feet and torso, become warm when exposed to warm environments (e.g., “Compared to others, a warm environment gives me warm feet ”) and the 7-item, Heat perception subscale measuring the self-reported tendency to feel warm in different environments and/or situations e.g., indoors, outdoors, in bed, when concentrating, when watching TV or reading (e.g., “ Compared to others, I experience heat at home ”).…”

“…We also asked participants to rate their perceived level of confidence in task performance as a proxy to measure meta-awareness. Participants also underwent the heartbeat counting task and completed a series of self-reported measures of thermosensitivity i.e., selected sub-scales of the Experienced Temperature Sensitivity and Regulation Scale, ETSRS 50 and the Social Thermoregulation and Risk Avoidance Questionnaire, STRAQ-1 51 and measures of interoceptive sensibility i.e., the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, MAIA-2 52 and the Body Perception Questionnaire, BPQ-SF 53 .…”