Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41835126›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health insights2026

Heat Exposure and Health Outcomes in Construction Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia, Vijay Kumar Chattu, Thankam S Sunil, Nancy Carnide, Heather Thomson, Raihana Premji, Aishvinigaa Sathananthan, Charlene Choi, Javier Mencia-Ledo

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental health insights, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Behdin Nowrouzi-KiaDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5586-4282
Vijay Kumar ChattuDepartment of Public Health, Health Administration and Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9840-8335
Thankam S SunilDepartment of Public Health, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Nancy CarnideInstitute for Work & Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7892-5626
Heather ThomsonLawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Raihana PremjiDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9167-7445
Aishvinigaa SathananthanDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Charlene ChoiDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Javier Mencia-LedoDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Climate change is becoming a recognized health concern in the scientific community, as heat exposure poses escalating health risks to outdoor occupational groups, particularly construction workers. Heat stress and climate change may lead to adverse physical health outcomes and reduced workability among construction workers. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to (1) examine the prevalence of physical health outcomes of construction workers in relation to heat exposure and (2) analyze the association between physical health outcomes of heat exposure and work performance by sex and age. Following the PRISMA guidelines and using a PICO framework, we conducted a comprehensive search across APA PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science. Seventeen studies met our inclusion criteria. Outcomes were grouped into dehydration, heat-related illnesses (HRI), kidney function impairments, and heat-related deaths. Random-effects models were used for the meta-analysis, and subgroup analyses were performed using demographic variables. Pooled meta-analysis and heterogeneity statistics are only provided for the HRI outcome, as all other outcomes are only represented by single eligible studies. Dehydration demonstrated the highest single-study prevalence (0.97, 95% CI: 0.88, 1.00), contrasting with HRI pooled prevalence (0.40, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.58) and kidney function impairment single-study prevalence (0.17, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.39), which showed much lower estimates. High heterogeneity was present in the HRI symptoms category (

Indexed as

construction workersheat exposureheat-related illnessoccupational healthsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID41835126
PMCPMC12982856

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.