Health and Environmental Effects of Boiler Management Systems in Social Housing

June 1, 2010 updated by: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Randomised Controlled Trial of Boiler Management Systems in Social Housing in Camden: An Assessment of Health, Environmental and Economic Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a passive safety measure, namely a reduction in centrally controlled hot tap water temperatures in social housing using a boiler management system, as an effective public health intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The annual hospital admission rate in England for burns and scalds is 31 children per 100,000 population. While reducing the temperature in domestic hot water tanks is a recommended injury prevention strategy, the UK has been slow to adopt such 'passive' safety measures. However, Camden Council employs a Boiler Management System (BMS) in boiler houses to centrally set the hot water temperature for parts of its social housing stock, providing the opportunity to evaluate various impacts of a 'passive' safety measure, including quantifying the effects of the BMS on average hot water temperatures at delivery, annual energy costs, and annual greenhouse gas emissions; modelling the reduction in scald injuries; identifying the cost-effectiveness of the system as a public health intervention; as well as describing experiences/ perceptions of risk of scalding and identifying health and social benefits of the BMS. Boiler houses with BMS will be randomised to remain at their constant set temperature or to BMS reduced temperature and sterilisation programme. A process evaluation will also be undertaken to assess the acceptability of water temperatures to tenants.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

150

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals living in social housing in the London Borough of Camden where the Boiler Management system has been installed.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Aged under 18 years

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: BMS and sterilisation
BMS and sterilisation programme will be delivered
Other: BMS and sterilisation programme
BMS with reduced hot water temperature and sterilisation programme
No Intervention: BMS standard water heating

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Thermal energy (degrees Celsius) at hot tap of bath
Time Frame: after 1 minute
after 1 minute

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Acceptability of hot water temperature delivered to tenant
Time Frame: Up to 2-3 months post-intervention
Up to 2-3 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Collaborators

Camden Primary Care Trust, London
London Borough of Camden Housing and Adult Social Care Directorate

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Phil Edwards, PhD, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 1, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

April 2, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 2, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 1, 2010

Last Verified

June 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • EPNPPT84

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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