Thermal comfort in neurology departments of county-level hospitals during winter: a comparative study of short and long dwell-time spaces

Neurological patients often have impaired thermoregulation and may have different thermal comfort requirements from caregivers. Dwell time may further influence thermal perception, yet studies comparing these two groups across hospital spaces with different dwell times remain limited. This study investigated the winter thermal comfort conditions of neurological patients and healthy caregivers at a county-level hospital in Northwest China using field measurements and questionnaire surveys. The spaces included short-dwell spaces (outpatient waiting area, mean dwell time: 42.82 min; ward corridor, mean dwell time: 29.91 min) and a long-dwell space (inpatient ward, mean dwell time: 6.79 days). Operative temperature (TO) and standard effective temperature (SET*) were used as thermal indices to evaluate thermal sensation, thermal comfort, neutral temperature, thermal acceptable range, and preferred temperature across the three spaces. The results showed that, for patients, the long-dwell space had higher neutral temperatures (TO/SET*: 23.8/26.9 °C), narrower thermal acceptable ranges (22.5–24.0/24.6–26.8 °C), and higher preferred temperatures (TO/SET*: 24.6/27.2 °C) than the short-dwell spaces. For caregivers, the thermal acceptable range and preferred temperature were also higher in the inpatient ward, while neutral temperature fell between those of the two short-dwell spaces. These findings inform winter indoor thermal environment optimization in county-level hospitals.