Trial reportExperimental physiology2026
Effects of ceiling fan use on cardiovascular autonomic function during simulated indoor overheating in bed-resting older adults.
Trial report in Experimental physiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Effects of ceiling fan use on cardiovascular autonomic function during simulated indoor overheating in bed-resting older adults.Experimental physiology · 2026Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Older adults are at heightened susceptibility to heat-related cardiovascular complications when exposed to indoor overheating. While ceiling fans are recommended as an accessible cooling intervention, their effects on cardiac autonomic regulation remain unclear. In this randomized crossover study, 20 healthy older adults (median age 71 years, 12 female) completed two 8-h exposures to simulated indoor overheating (31°C, 45% relative humidity) while bed-resting with either no fan (control) or ceiling fan use (∼1.5 m/s airflow). Core temperature and heart rate were monitored. Before exposure and between hours 6 and 7, participants underwent cardiac autonomic response testing including measures of heart rate variability (SDNN, RMSSD - indices of overall and parasympathetic/vagal cardiac autonomic modulation, respectively) and supine-to-standing tests (30:15 ratio, systolic blood pressure response) as well as self-reported symptoms of orthostatic intolerance. Ceiling fan use reduced peak core temperature (0.2°C [95% CI: 0.1-0.3]; P < 0.001), heart rate (-5 beats/min [-10 to 0]; P = 0.03), and attenuated heat-induced reductions in RMSSD (4.7 ms [0.2-9.2]; P = 0.04) compared to control. However, fan use did not influence SDNN, blood pressure during postural changes, cardiac response to standing, or symptoms of orthostatic intolerance. While ceiling fans provided modest reductions in core temperature and heart rate and partially preserved RMSSD, they offered limited overall cardiovascular and autonomic protection in older adults during prolonged heat exposure. These findings indicate that, despite some beneficial effects, ceiling fans provide limited cardiovascular autonomic protection, underscoring the need for comprehensive cooling strategies to safeguard older adults during indoor overheating.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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 Socratic graph.