Along the way, education materials to allow for hydration self-assessment, or tools to improve hydration status will become available.
In year 1 we will identify the optimal combination of ‘simple self-assessedbiomarkers’ and time of day for hydration assessment. For this purpose, we will compare self-scored outcomes of thirst, body weight from baseline, urine frequency during the last 24 years and urine color with the urine concentration of Wildland Firefighters (WLFFs). For this purpose, we will create binary outcomes as shown in the figure below, while comparing these outcomes with a low vs. high urine concentration.
Figure 1. Validation design visualizing how cut-off values for self-scored biomarkers are suggested to reflect a low vs. high urine concentration.
In year 2 we will use a randomized controlled trial design to investigate the effect of hydration education and self-assessment on improving hydration compared to a control group. We will target only the engine crews (n~140) and plan to include n=30 to be divided into two groups of n=15 distributed over multiple engine crews as shown in the figure below.
Figure 2. The impact of hydration education and self-assessment on fluid intake and hydration in WLFs.
Future scientific outcomes from the project will be posted here. In the meantime please have a look at some scientific background supporting this research project.
