Background
Methods
Survey
Survey development
Data collection
Analysis
Focus groups
Results
BSA England population estimate | All respondents (n = 1872) | Not vulnerable (n = 1422) | Potentially vulnerable (n = 307) | Vulnerable (n = 143) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | % | % | % | % | % |
18–24 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 7 | – |
25–34 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 15 | – |
35–44 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 15 | – |
45–54 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 17 | – |
55–64 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 26 | – |
65+ | 22 | 28 | 15 | 20 | 100 |
Gender | |||||
Male | 48 | 48 | 47 | 47 | 56 |
Female | 52 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 44 |
Ethnic group | |||||
White | Not available | 87 | 85 | 88 | 98 |
Other | Not available | 13 | 15 | 12 | 2 |
Highest educational attainment | |||||
Degree or equivalent | 36 | 33 | 36 | 24 | 22 |
A level or equivalent | 19 | 22 | 25 | 17 | 14 |
O level/CSE or equivalent | 26 | 22 | 22 | 28 | 7 |
Foreign or other | 3 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 18 |
No qualifications | 17 | 15 | 10 | 23 | 39 |
Monthly household income | |||||
Less than £1200 | Not available | 25 | 19 | 43 | 44 |
£1201 - £2200 | Not available | 25 | 24 | 25 | 33 |
£2201 - £3700 | Not available | 21 | 23 | 17 | 15 |
£3701 or more | Not available | 29 | 34 | 15 | 8 |
Region | |||||
North East | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
North West | 13 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 11 |
Yorkshire & the Humber | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 15 |
East Midlands | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
West Midlands | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 14 |
East of England | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
London | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 5 |
South East | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 |
South West | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 16 |
Location | |||||
Urban | Not available | 82 | 81 | 86 | 75 |
Rural | Not available | 18 | 19 | 14 | 25 |
Household type | |||||
Single person household | 17 | 17 | 12 | 26 | 37 |
Lone parent | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
2 adults (no children) | 36 | 35 | 34 | 27 | 57 |
2 adults (with children) | 21 | 23 | 26 | 20 | 0 |
3+ adults (no children) | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 5 |
3+ adults (with children) | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
Social grade | |||||
Managerial/professional | 38 | 41 | 43 | 30 | 37 |
Intermediate | 12 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 11 |
Small employers/own account workers | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
Lower supervisory/technical | 8 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 10 |
Semi-routine/routine | 28 | 29 | 27 | 32 | 34 |
Health | |||||
Good/very good | Not available | 65 | 75 | 24 | 60 |
Fair | Not available | 26 | 25 | 28 | 32 |
Bad/very bad | Not available | 9 | 0 | 48 | 8 |
Limiting longstanding illness (LLSI) | |||||
No | 69 | 67 | 83 | 9 | 45 |
Does not affect day-to-day life | 15 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 35 |
Affects day-to-day life | 16 | 16 | 0 | 83 | 20 |
Attitudes to hot weather
All | Not vulnerable | Potentially vulnerable | Vulnerable | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Attitudes to hot weather [% of respondents that strongly agree or agree (95%CI)] | ||||
I love hot weather | 57.7 (54.5–60.8) | 60.4 (56.8–63.8) | 49.9 (42.0–57.7) | 48.7 (38.0–59.6) |
Hot weather is a risk to my health | 31.1 (28.3–34.1) | 26.9 (23.9–30.0) | 45.3 (37.6–53.4) | 41.8 (31.0–53.5) |
Effectiveness of heat protection behaviours as [% of respondents rated behaviour very or completely effective (95%CI)] | ||||
Staying out of sun 11 am-3 pm | 66.2 (63.0–69.1) | 67.3 (63.7–70.6) | 58.8 (50.7–66.5) | 71.2 (60.3–80.1) |
Drinking cool fluids | 72.5 (69.6–75.3) | 73.6 (70.3–76.8) | 73.3 (65.6–79.8) | 60.8 (49.0–71.5) |
Covering skin with clothing | 66.4 (63.2–69.4) | 65.9 (62.2–69.4) | 68.0 (59.8–75.2) | 67.6 (55.7–77.6) |
Limiting physical activity | 64.2 (60.9–67.2) | 64.5 (60.8–68.0) | 62.3 (54.1–69.8) | 64.8 (52.6–75.4) |
Use electric fan | 38.0 (34.9–41.2) | 35.4 (31.9–39.0) | 51.6 (43.8–59.4) | 34.0 (24.1–45.6) |
Close curtains on exposed windows | 47.6 (44.5–50.8) | 47.0 (43.4–50.6) | 44.3 (36.7–52.2) | 60.5 (49.2–70.7) |
Close exposed windows during day | 20.1 (17.6–22.8) | 19.7 (16.9–22.8) | 18.7 (12.7–26.6) | 27.0 (19.0–36.9) |
Open windows at night | 63.1 (60.0–66.1) | 63.9 (60.4–67.3) | 58.7 (50.6–66.3) | 65.1 (54.6–74.3) |
Avoid alcohol | 45.2 (42.0–48.4) | 45.6 (42.0–49.3) | 45.2 (37.5–53.2) | 41.2 (31.1–52.2) |
Experienced adverse health effects as a result of hot weather or heat [% of respondents (95%CI)] | ||||
None | 47.2 (44.1–50.3) | 47.1 (43.5–50.7) | 37.8 (30.7–45.4) | 68.3 (56.7–78.0) |
Dehydration/intense thirst | 20.2 (17.6–23.0) | 19.8 (17.0–23.0) | 27.0 (19.6–35.8) | 8.7 (4.8–15.1) |
Sunburn | 18.2 (15.6–21.0) | 18.7 (16.0–21.7) | 21.5 (14.4–30.8) | 6.3 (1.3–24.8) |
Heat rash/red and dry skin | 14.0 (11.7–16.8) | 12.5 (10.1–15.3) | 22.3 (15.4–31.1) | 11.1 (4.5–24.9) |
Headaches | 25.8 (23.0–28.8) | 27.1 (23.8–30.7) | 29.3 (22.8–36.8) | 5.9 (3.0–11.4) |
Dizziness | 9.1 (7.3–11.2) | 6.8 (5.1–9.0) | 17.5 (12.5–23.9) | 12.9 (5.6–26.7) |
Nausea or vomiting | 2.9 (1.8–4.5) | 2.0 (1.2–3.3) | 5.3 (2.2–11.9) | 6.1 (1.2–25.5) |
Muscle weakness or cramps | 6.4 (4.9–8.4) | 4.2 (3.0–5.8) | 16.8 (10.9–25.1) | 6.2 (2.9–12.6) |
A high temperature | 6.5 (4.8–8.6) | 5.9 (4.1–8.4) | 8.2 (5.2–12.8) | 8.3 (2.5–24.3) |
Irritability | 21.3 (18.7–24.1) | 19.2 (16.5–22.1) | 33.5 (25.9–42.0) | 15.2 (7.6–28.1) |
A need to contact health services (e.g., a GP, an ambulance) | 1.4 (0.6–2.9) | 0.9 (0.3–2.3) | 1.0 (0.3–4.0) | 6.7 (1.6–24.4) |
Mean number of adverse health effects | 1.3 (0.1) | 1.2 (0.1) | 1.8 (1.5) | 1.0 (0.3) |
Base (unweighted): All respondents | 1872 | 1422 | 307 | 143 |
Heard and acted on health advice [% respondents (95%CI)] | ||||
Not heard advice | 49.0 (45.8–52.2) | 49.7 (46.0–53.5) | 51.6 (43.6–59.5) | 36.1 (26.4–47.1) |
Heard advice but did not change behaviour | 29.1 (26.3–32.0) | 29.7 (26.5–33.1) | 22.8 (17.4–29.4) | 37.1 (26.3–49.4) |
Heard advice and changed behaviour | 21.9 (19.3–24.8) | 20.6 (17.6–23.9) | 25.6 (19.2–33.4) | 26.8 (18.5–37.1) |
Protective behaviours taken [% respondents always or often took protective behaviours during 2017 heat alert period (95%CI)] | ||||
Staying out of sun 11 am-3 pm | 46.6 (43.4–49.8) | 44.8 (41.2–48.5) | 48.6 (40.7–56.6) | 59.2 (47.9–68.7) |
Drinking cool fluids | 87.3 (84.9–89.4) | 88.6 (85.9–90.8) | 84.8 (77.6–90.0) | 80.6 (71.3–87.4) |
Covering skin with clothing | 50.9 (47.7–54.2) | 49.3 (45.6–53.0) | 51.7 (43.6–59.6) | 65.0 (54.2–74.5) |
Limiting physical activity | 56.3 (53.1–59.6) | 54.5 (50.7–58.2) | 57.5 (49.2–65.4) | 71.8 (60.4–80.9) |
Use electric fan | 39.3 (36.1–42.6) | 38.6 (35.0–42.3) | 46.3 (38.4–54.4) | 31.0 (20.8–43.5) |
Close curtains on exposed windows | 47.7 (44.5–51.0) | 46.5 (42.9–50.3) | 49.6 (41.6–57.6) | 55.3 (43.9–66.2) |
Close exposed windows during day | 34.9 (31.9–38.0) | 33.2 (29.9–36.7) | 34.3 (26.8–42.8) | 52.4 (41.3–63.3) |
Open windows at night | 87.1 (84.5–89.3) | 88.2 (85.1–90.8) | 86.2 (80.3–90.5) | 78.4 (69.1–85.5) |
Avoid alcohol | 51.2 (47.9–54.4) | 47.7 (44.0–51.5) | 61.1 (52.6–68.9) | 62.8 (52.2–72.3) |
Mean number of protective behaviours always/often taken (sd) | 5.0 (2.1) | 4.9 (2.1) | 5.2 (2.0) | 5.6 (2.2) |
Base (unweighted): In England during level 3 heat alert | 1787 | 1356 | 295 | 136 |
Views on the effectiveness of protective behaviours
Protective behaviours taken during the level 3 heat-health alert
Avoid sun OR (95%CI) | Drink cool fluids OR (95%CI) | Covers skin OR (95%CI) | Limits physical activity OR (95%CI) | Electric fan OR (95%CI) | Close curtain on exposed windows day OR (95%CI) | Close exposed windows day OR (95%CI) | Open windows night OR (95%CI) | Avoid alcohol OR (95%CI) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | |||||||||
18–34 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
35–54 | 1.7 (0.7–4.2) | 0.4 (0.0–5.5) | 0.4 (0.1–1.1) | 0.5 (0.2–1.6) | 0.2 (0.1–0.7) | 2.2 (0.8–6.2) | 0.7 (0.3–1.9) | 1.6 (0.4–6.2) | 0.9 (0.3–2.8) |
55–74 | 2.5 (1.0–6.5) | 0.4 (0.0–5.8) | 1.0 (0.3–2.7) | 0.6 (0.2–1.9) | 0.3 (0.1–0.9) | 3.2 (1.1–9.1) | 1.3 (0.5–3.6) | 0.8 (0.2–2.9) | 1.0 (0.3–3.0) |
75 and over | 4.1 (1.2–14.7) | 0.3 (0.0–4.6) | 0.8 (0.2–2.6) | 2.2 (0.6–8.0) | 0.4 (0.1–1.8) | 1.7 (0.5–5.9) | 1.4 (0.4–4.6) | 0.3 (0.1–1.2) | 2.0 (0.5–7.5) |
Health | |||||||||
Good/very good | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Fair | 1.8 (0.8–3.8) | 0.8 (0.3–2.3) | 1.2 (0.6–2.4) | 1.3 (0.6–2.8) | 3.0 (1.3–6.8) | 1.4 (0.7–2.9) | 2.1 (1.0–4.5) | 1.3 (0.5–3.3) | 2.3 (1.1–5.2) |
Bad/very bad | 2.1 (1.0–4.3) | 0.6 (0.2–1.4) | 0.8 (0.4–1.7) | 1.4 (0.6–3.0) | 3.4 (1.5–7.5) | 1.5 (0.7–3.2) | 2.2 (1.0–4.8) | 0.8 (0.3–1.9) | 2.8 (1.2–6.3) |
LLSI | |||||||||
No | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Does not affect day-to-day life | 0.4 (0.1–1.0) | 1.2 (0.4–3.6) | 0.7 (0.3–2.0) | 0.7 (0.3–1.7) | 0.5 (0.2–1.5) | 0.8 (0.3–2.0) | 0.8 (0.3–2.1) | 0.8 (0.2–2.4) | 1.2 (0.5–3.0) |
Affects day-to-day life | 0.8 (0.3–1.9) | 0.9 (0.4–2.5) | 0.4 (0.2–1.0) | 0.9 (0.4–2.1) | 0.6 (0.3–1.6) | 0.7 (0.3–1.7) | ) 0.3 (0.1–0.7) | 0.5 (0.2–1.4) | 1.5 (0.6–3.7) |
Household type | |||||||||
Living with someone | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Living alone | 0.9 (0.5–1.7) | 1.0 (0.5–2.3) | 0.9 (0.5–1.7) | 0.7 (0.4–1.4) | 0.4 (0.2–0.8) | 1.1 (0.6–2.2) | 1.2 (0.7–2.4) | 0.5 (0.2–1.0) | 0.4 (0.2–0.8) |
Heard alert advice | |||||||||
Did not hear advice | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Heard advice | 1.4 (0.8–2.4) | 1.9 (0.9–3.7) | 1.1 (0.6–1.9) | 1.0 (0.6–1.9) | 1.3 (0.7–2.5) | 1.0 (0.6–1.8) | 1.7 (1.0–3.0) | 2.2 (1.1–4.5) | 1.4 (0.8–2.4) |
Effective | |||||||||
Not/slightly/somewhat | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Completely/very | 2.6 (1.5–4.5) | 6.2 (2.8–13.7) | 2.8 (1.5–5.1) | 3.7 (2.0–7.0) | 4.9 (2.7–9.1) | 6.5 (3.7–11.4) | 9.6 (4.1–22.5) | 3.7 (1.6–8.4) | 4.3 (2.4–7.8) |
Hot weather is a risk to health | |||||||||
Disagree/strongly disagree | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Neutral | 1.3 (0.6–2.6) | 1.6 (0.6–4.7) | 1.0 (0.5–1.9) | 1.0 (0.4–2.2) | 1.4 (0.6–3.2) | 2.2 (1.0–4.7) | 2.5 (1.2–5.3) | 0.5 (0.2–1.2) | 1.4 (0.7–2.8) |
Agree/strongly agree | 1.9 (1.0–3.7) | 1.4 (0.5–3.9) | 1.3 (0.6–2.7) | 2.1 (1.0–4.3) | 1.3 (0.6–2.7) | 1.3 (0.6–2.7) | 1.4 (0.6–3.0) | 0.7 (0.3–1.6) | 1.0 (0.5–2.0) |
Love hot weather | |||||||||
Disagree/strongly disagree | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Neutral | 0.8 (0.4–1.8) | 1.3 (0.4–4.2) | 1.0 (0.4–2.3) | 0.5 (0.2–1.1) | 0.4 (0.2–1.0) | 0.4 (0.1–0.9) | 1.2 (0.5–2.9) | 0.4 (0.1–1.0) | 0.9 (0.4–2.0) |
Agree/strongly agree | 0.8 (0.3–1.6) | 1.2 (0.4–3.6) | 0.4 (0.2–0.9) | 0.6 (0.3–1.3) | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 0.4 (0.2–0.8) | 1.1 (0.5–2.5) | 0.6 (0.2–1.7) | 0.5 (0.2–1.2) |
Sex | |||||||||
Male | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Female | 1.9 (1.1–3.3) | 1.8 (0.9–3.8) | 0.8 (0.5–1.5) | 1.8 (0.9–3.4) | 1.1 (0.6–2.0) | 1.3 (0.7–2.3) | 0.9 (0.5–1.6) | 1.2 (0.5–2.6) | 1.9 (1.1–3.3) |
Ethnicity | |||||||||
White | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 2.1 (0.7–6.6) | 0.4 (0.1–1.5) | 0.3 (0.1–1.1) | 1.7 (0.6–5.1) | 1.1 (0.3–3.9) | 1.3 (0.3–5.1) | 1.2 (0.4–4.1) | 0.7 (0.1–3.7) | 4.4 (1.1–17.2) |
Education | |||||||||
Degree/higher | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
A-level/equivalent | 0.4 (0.2–1.1) | 1.6 (0.5–4.8) | 0.6 (0.3–1.3) | 0.3 (0.1–0.7) | 1.9 (0.7–4.8) | 0.7 (0.3–1.6) | 0.7 (0.3–1.8) | 1.7 (0.3–8.0) | 0.5 (0.2–1.2) |
Below A-level/none | 0.5 (0.2–1.1) | 1.4 (0.6–3.4) | 0.7 (0.3–1.5) | 0.6 (0.2–1.3) | 1.9 (0.7–3.9) | 0.5 (0.2–1.1) | 1.0 (0.4–2.3) | 0.5 (0.2–1.5) | 1.1 (0.5–2.3) |
Other | 0.8 (0.3–2.3) | 4.9 (1.0–23.7) | 1.2 (0.4–3.9) | 0.7 (0.2–2.3) | 2.5 (1.0–6.5) | 0.9 (0.4–2.4) | 1.5 (0.4–4.9) | 1.5 (0.3–7.5) | 1.2 (0.4–3.6) |
Monthly household income | |||||||||
Less than £1200 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
£1201 - £2200 | 1.1 (0.6–2.3) | 0.8 (0.3–2.0) | 0.9 (0.5–1.8) | 1.3 (0.6–2.9) | 0.6 (0.3–1.3) | 1.0 (0.5–2.1) | 0.9 (0.5–1.9) | 0.7 (0.3–1.7) | 1.7 (0.8–3.7) |
£2201 - £3700 | 1.5 (0.7–3.4) | 1.8 (0.5–6.2) | 1.7 (0.8–3.6) | 1.9 (0.9–4.2) | 1.2 (0.5–2.8) | 0.8 (0.4–1.9) | 0.6 (0.2–1.3) | 1.3 (0.5–3.5) | 0.7 (0.3–1.7) |
£3701 or more | 0.4 (0.1–1.1) | 5.0 (1.1–22.1) | 2.2 (0.8–6.0) | 3.0 (1.0–9.2) | 2.8 (1.1–7.2) | 0.6 (0.2–1.6) | 1.4 (0.5–3.9) | 6.8 (1.0–47.0) | 0.4 (0.2–1.2) |
Region | |||||||||
North | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Midlands | 1.3 (0.6–2.6) | 1.9 (0.5–7.4) | 0.8 (0.4–1.8) | 1.1 (0.5–2.5) | 2.2 (1.0–4.9) | 1.5 (0.7–3.4) | 0.6 (0.3–1.3) | 0.8 (0.3–2.0) | 1.1 (0.5–2.4) |
East | 0.8 (0.3–1.9) | 0.6 (0.2–1.7) | 0.6 (0.3–1.6) | 1.5 (0.6–4.1) | 1.9 (0.7–5.2) | 1.4 (0.6–3.4) | 0.6 (0.2–1.7) | 0.7 (0.2–2.1) | 1.3 (0.5–3.1) |
London & South East | 0.9 (0.4–2.0) | 1.4 (0.5–3.8) | 0.7 (0.3–1.4) | 0.9 (0.4–2.1) | 2.1 (1.0–4.4) | 2.4 (1.1–5.3) | 0.7 (0.3–1.5) | 0.8 (0.3–2.2) | 0.8 (0.4–1.6) |
South West | 1.8 (0.6–4.8) | 1.0 (0.3–3.7) | 0.7 (0.3–2.0) | 1.0 (0.4–2.7) | 1.0 (0.3–3.5) | 1.2 (0.5–3.1) | 0.4 (0.1–1.3) | 22.6 (2.1–248.1) | 2.5 (0.8–8.1) |
Location | |||||||||
Rural | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Urban | 0.9 (0.4–1.7) | 1.5 (0.7–3.3) | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 1.0 (0.5–1.9) | 1.4 (0.6–3.5) | 0.8 (0.4–1.7) | 1.9 (0.9–3.9) | 1.3 (0.5–3.0) | 1.5 (0.7–3.1) |