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Relationships of self-identified cold tolerance and cold-induced vasodilatation in the finger

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Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate relationships of self-identified cold tolerance and cold-induced vasodilatation (CIVD) in the finger. Nine males and 34 females participated in the following 2 tests: a CIVD test and a self-reported survey. The CIVD test was conducted 30-min cold-water immersion (3.8 ± 0.3 °C) of the middle finger at an air temperature of 27.9 ± 0.1 °C. The self-reported questionnaire consisted of 28 questions about whole and local body cold and heat tolerances. By a cluster analysis on the survey results, the participants were divided into two groups: high self-identified cold tolerance (HSCT, n = 25) and low self-identified cold tolerance (LSCT, n = 18). LSCT had lower self-identified cold tolerance (P < 0.001), preferred hot thermal stimulation (P = 0.006), and wore heavier clothing during daily life (P < 0.001) than HSCT. LSCT had significantly lower maximal finger temperatures (T max) (P = 0.040), smaller amplitude (P = 0.029), and delayed onset time of CIVD (P = 0.080) when compared to HSCT. Some questions examining the self-identified cold or heat tolerance had relationships with cold tolerance index, T max, and amplitude (P < 0.1). These results indicate that self-identified cold tolerance classified through a standardized survey could be a good index to predict physiological cold tolerance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No.2014 R1A2A2A03006522). The authors would like to thank our colleagues, Eric A. Stone and Joung Mi Ha for their technical supports.

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There are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

    Joonhee Park & Joo-Young Lee

  2. College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea

    Joo-Young Lee

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  1. Joonhee Park
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  2. Joo-Young Lee
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Correspondence to Joo-Young Lee.

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Park, J., Lee, JY. Relationships of self-identified cold tolerance and cold-induced vasodilatation in the finger. Int J Biometeorol 60, 521–529 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1048-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1048-0

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