What Hajj Interviews Reveal: Qualitative Sun Protection Analysis

According to the PLoS One study on sun protection during Hajj, qualitative interviews found that pilgrims and nurses recognized the physical burden of sun exposure but had limited understanding of UV-specific risks and UPF-rated products.

• Between June 20 and July 11, 2025, researchers interviewed 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses about sun protection during the 2025 Hajj season.
• The 29 participants produced five major themes: physical and emotional effects, knowledge gaps, cultural influences, barriers, and recommendations.
• The study found that participants often interpreted sun exposure as a heat-related risk rather than distinguishing heat illness from UV-related skin and eye damage.
• Researchers reported that cost, product availability, language, physical discomfort, clothing norms, and spiritual interpretations of hardship influenced sun protection behavior.
• The authors recommended multilingual pre-Hajj education, affordable protective products, and culturally appropriate messages that separate heat protection from UV protection.

The Hajj study found that participants needed clearer education about the difference between heat-related illness and UV-related harm. The researchers conducted retrospective, semi-structured Zoom interviews between June 20 and July 11, 2025, within approximately one month of the Hajj season, and analyzed the transcripts using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis approach.

The study included 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses who had worked in hospitals in Makkah and Madinah during Hajj. The researchers assessed saturation separately for pilgrims and nurses and reported that no new codes emerged during the final two to three interviews in each group.

The researchers identified five themes across the 29 interviews. Participants described exhaustion, dizziness, dehydration, and fainting, but the study noted that UV-specific effects such as sunburn and eye irritation were rarely raised.

One pilgrim described the physical burden by saying, "The weather was hot, and, unfortunately, the sun was directly overhead... We felt tired and exhausted you feel like you can’t continue the remaining steps." A nurse similarly reported, "Some of my colleagues and pilgrims got heat exhaustion and fainted."

The researchers found that participants often knew general advice such as drinking water and avoiding direct sun but were unfamiliar with UPF-rated clothing, UV-protective umbrellas, and the UV Index. One nurse said, "Honestly, I have no knowledge about UV-protection products, " while another described UPF as the "first time I heard about UPF."

The study’s scope matters for interpretation: the pilgrim group consisted only of Saudi nationals and represented one Hajj season, so the findings should not be treated as statistically representative of the broader international Hajj population.

For public health teams, the Hajj interviews show that effective sun-safety communication must address both knowledge and context. The PLoS One researchers found that participants could accept sun protection while still facing language barriers, cost concerns, product-access problems, discomfort, clothing constraints, and beliefs that enduring heat represented spiritual hardship.

For health educators, the study recommends separating messages about heat and UV exposure. The researchers explain that hydration, rest, and cooling address heat-related illness, while sunscreen and UPF-rated clothing or umbrellas address UV exposure; shade can contribute to protection from both hazards.

For qualitative researchers, the study demonstrates why thematic analysis should preserve participant language and social context. The distinction between heat and UV risk, the role of Ihram-related clothing constraints, and the normalization of umbrellas might have been missed by a narrow coding scheme focused only on product use.

For teams studying multilingual populations, the study shows why translation and cross-language review require explicit quality controls. The researchers conducted interviews in Arabic and English, translated Arabic transcripts into English, and independently audited a random 20% sample of translated transcripts against the original material.

The ethical implication is clear: this research is non-diagnostic and should guide population-level education and service design, not individual medical decisions.

The 2026 Hajj study shows how qualitative sun protection analysis can reveal the difference between general awareness and behaviorally useful knowledge. The 29 interviews connected limited UV understanding with culture, communication, cost, access, comfort, and institutional preparation. AI-assisted tools can help researchers analyze these interconnected themes faster while preserving segment comparisons and auditability. Teams studying health behavior, mass gatherings, or multilingual populations can try Evidano for free to accelerate transcript and document analysis.