Validity of Calera® Sensor for Assessing Core Temperature During Arm Crank Exercise in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury in a Moderate Thermal Environment.

BACKGROUND

Wearables that allow core temperature to be monitored are an important development for athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI) due to their increased risk of suffering heat-related illness.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the validity of the Calera® heat flux sensor compared to ingestible telemetric pills (BodyCap) for monitoring core temperature during a graded exercise test in individuals with SCI and non-SCI participants.

METHODS

Twenty-one participants were included (SCI, 12; non-SCI, 9). The participants conducted a graded exercise test that consisted of 3-minute stages with 1-minute rest intervals, and core temperature was continuously measured using ingestible telemetric pills and the Calera® heat flux sensor. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and bias were calculated to assess agreement between methods, with comparisons made between SCI and non-SCI groups.

RESULTS

In non-SCI participants, agreement between the methods was good [ICC = 0.65, P < .001; bias = 0.06 (0.22) °C; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.11 °C], while SCI participants showed poor agreement [ICC = -0.12, P = .93; bias = -0.11 (0.46) °C; 95% CI -0.19 to -0.03 °C]. The percentage of measurements where the mean difference between methods exceeded 0.3 °C was 15% in non-SCI participants and 42% in SCI participants.

CONCLUSION

The Calera® heat flux sensor is not a valid tool for assessing core temperature in individuals with SCI in moderate thermal environments.