Heat Acclimation Improves Heat Tolerance Test Specificity in a Criteria-dependent Manner

Conclusion Young healthy men without any previous heat illness experienced a 15% to 46% false-positive fail rate for the HTT without HA. After HA, the false-positive fail rate decreased to between 8% and 13%. Outcomes of the HTT are significantly affected by the criteria used and by HA status. The use of HTT for RTA decisions should be done with the recognition of these effects. A major ongoing challenge in sports medicine and the military is the determination of when an athlete or a military service member is ready to return to activity (RTA) after suffering an exertional heat stroke. A heat tolerance test (HTT) is one method used for RTA assessment, but its test specificity is unknown and may be affected by heat acclimation (HA) status.
Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: APPLIED SCIENCES Source Type: research