• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.530-543
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• 2018

This study investigated elderly winter wearing habits and self-identified thermal tolerance in order to compare differences between older males and older females. We surveyed 269 participants: 119 males (age $76.9{\pm}5.9yr$) and 150 females (age $76.1{\pm}5.7yr$). Thirty one questionnaires were used: Self-identified cold and heat tolerance, clothing behavior, lifestyles related to the cold and health care, etc. High percentage of respondents (both males and females) felt vulnerable to the cold. The total number of outdoor clothes were $9.6{\pm}1.6$ and $10.6{\pm}1.6$ in males and females, respectively (p<.05). Wearing frequencies for thermal underwear were 84.0% and 82.4% in males and females, respectively. The using percentage of auxiliary heating devices was higher in females compared to males (p<.01). Males felt more cold in the head and face compared to females (p<.01). Self-identified cold tolerance had negative relationships with the total number of winter outdoor clothes for both males (r=-0.260) and females (r=-0.222) (p<.01). The perceived old age for both males and females was 72.4 yr. Sex differences should be considered when developing guidelines for winter clothing behavior for the elderly and educating them on how to improve health and cold tolerance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.126-140
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• 2020

This study analyzed the self-identified cold tolerance and wearing behavior of teenagers inside and outside the classroom during winter, considering recent climate changes. A questionnaire was divided into four parts-general information, thermal and comfort sensation inside and outside classroom, self-identified cold tolerance, and wearing behavior to collect data from 322 students. Over several years, changes were noted in respondents' wearing behavior during winter outings, with the biggest being the purchase of a "long padded jacket" for warmth while outside. Most respondents showed similar wearing behavior, such as no difference between the number of clothes worn in a classroom maintained at 20℃ (girls: 8.0±3.1 layer, boys: 6.5±2.1 layer) and outside (girls: 8.8±3.4 layer, boys: 7.1±3.0 layer), despite feeling differently about the thermal sensation inside and outside the classroom. This difference may due to a teenager's lack of knowledge about temperature and their tendency to follow clothing trends. Female students were more sensitive to the cold and wore more garments inside and outside the classroom. Gender-related differences should be considered when educating teenagers about safe and healthy clothing.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.245-263
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate the thermoregulatory behavior of young males in terms of self-identified thermal tolerance. We recruited 436 male students from Seoul ($24.0{\pm}4.6yr$ in age, $175.3{\pm}5.5cm$ in height, $70.1{\pm}10.6kg$ in body mass, and $23.0{\pm}2.7$ in BMI) in accordance with four types of self-identified thermal tolerance: 1) tolerable of both cold and heat, BCH (N=15); 2) heat tolerable only, HTO (N=118); 3) cold tolerable only, CTO (N=162); and 4) neither cold nor heat tolerable, NCH (N=141). The questionnaire consisted of 55 questions regarding preference to cold or heat environment, seasonal thermoregulatory behaviors including clothing habits, seasonal sleeping environments, health care/physical fitness, and anthropometric items. The results showed that: 1) BCH preferred less auxiliary heating devices, gloves/hats, or thermal underwear in winter and had very few experiences with cold/heat injuries or catching a cold, whereas NCH showed the opposite behavior and experiences as BCH; 2) thermoregulatory behaviors were not symmetrical between summer and winter. Most male students preferred cold beverage/foods to using cooling devices to lower body temperature in summer, whereas auxiliary heating devices were preferred to warm beverage/foods to maintain body temperature in winter; 3) thermoregulatory behaviors of NCH had more items in common with HTO than CTO, while the behaviors of BCH were more closely related to CTO than the behaviors of BCH were more closely related to CTO than HTO. Overall, we confirmed that thermoregulatory behaviors were apparently classified by self-identified thermal tolerance, and such behaviors could be adjusted by improving cold or heat tolerance.