Effects of a cool environment on the health of female office workers and students.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a cool environment on the peripheral skin blood flow and subjective thermal sensations of female office workers and female students.

Methods: The subjects were 26 female bank employees (mean age, 38 years) who worked in a cool environment and 10 female college students (mean age, 22 years). The peripheral skin blood flow was measured using a laser Doppler blood flow meter. In each bank employee, peripheral skin blood flow was measured at three time points during the workday in the medical treatment room at their workplace. In the college students, peripheral skin blood flow was measured every hour between 9:00 and 17:00 in a laboratory. In both the medical treatment room and the laboratory, the room temperature was controlled at 24-26 degrees C with a relative humidity of 55+/-10%. The bank employees and students were each divided into those with hypersensitivity to cold (Group A) and those without hypersensitivity to cold (Group B).

Results: When the 10 college students were in the cool environment (24-26 degrees C), their peripheral skin blood flow generally decreased over time. The rate of decrease of this blood flow was greater in Group A than in Group B. In the female bank employees, the peripheral skin blood flow was the lowest at 12:00 (before lunch), was increased at 13:00 (after lunch), and then was decreased at 17:30. However, the degree of the increase from before lunch to after lunch in Group A was about half of that in Group B.

Conclusion: Among female office workers and students, a cool environment reduced the peripheral skin blood flow of individuals with hypersensitivity to cold to a greater degree than in those without hypersensitivity to cold.