Researchers, public health teams, and healthcare organizations need to understand why people do or do not adopt protective behaviors in demanding environments. Qualitative sun protection research can reveal the beliefs, language barriers, cultural expectations, and practical constraints that survey percentages alone may miss. A November 2026 PLOS One study examined these issues through post-Hajj interviews with pilgrims and nurses, then used thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns. This article summarizes the study and explains how AI-enabled qualitative research can help teams organize multilingual interviews, compare participant groups, and move from transcripts to actionable findings more efficiently.
Key Takeaways
According to the Sun protection awareness and ultraviolet protection factor product use among pilgrims and nurses during Hajj: A qualitative post-Hajj interview study, sun protection during Hajj was understood mainly as a heat-related issue, while knowledge of ultraviolet radiation, UPF-rated products, and the UV Index remained limited.
The study found that effective interventions should distinguish heat illness from UV-related harm and combine multilingual education, affordable protective products, and culturally appropriate communication.
- The PLOS One study interviewed 29 people, including 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses, between June 20 and July 11, 2025.
- The researchers identified five themes: physical and emotional effects, awareness gaps, cultural influences, barriers, and recommendations.
- The study reported that participants often associated sun exposure with dehydration, dizziness, exhaustion, and fainting, which are primarily heat-related symptoms rather than direct indicators of UV damage.
- A prior 2025 study cited by the researchers found that 26.9% of pilgrims did not use umbrellas in direct sunlight.
- The researchers concluded in November 2026 that pre-Hajj education, wider access to affordable protection, and culturally appropriate messaging were needed.
How Qualitative Sun Protection Research Was Conducted
The November 2026 PLOS One study used retrospective, semi-structured interviews to explore how pilgrims and nurses understood and practiced sun protection during Hajj.
The research team conducted interviews through Zoom from June 20 to July 11, 2025, approximately one month after the 2025 Hajj season. The sample included 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses who had worked in hospitals in Makkah and Madinah.
The researchers interviewed all pilgrims and Saudi nurses in Arabic and interviewed one non-Saudi nurse in English. Arabic transcripts were translated into English, and a second bilingual researcher audited a random 20% sample of translated transcripts against the original Arabic recordings.
According to the study, three researchers independently coded an initial 20% sample of transcripts, developed a shared codebook, and then used Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis approach. The researchers reported that five themes emerged after iterative coding and team discussion.
The study’s design also illustrates an important qualitative research limitation: participants recalled experiences after Hajj rather than being observed during rituals. The researchers noted that recall bias, social desirability bias, and the focus on Saudi pilgrims may limit transferability to the broader international Hajj population.
Findings Snapshot: UV Awareness and Hajj Health Behavior
| Date or study measure | Finding | Research implication |
|---|---|---|
| June 20 to July 11, 2025 | Interviews were conducted with 29 participants | Post-Hajj interviews captured recent experiences while relying on participant recall |
| 2025 sample | 16 pilgrims and 13 registered nurses participated | Two perspectives allowed the researchers to compare personal behavior with frontline healthcare observations |
| November 2026 publication | Five major themes were identified | Thematic analysis connected individual accounts to broader educational, cultural, and logistical issues |
| 2025 study cited by the authors | 26.9% of pilgrims did not use umbrellas in direct sunlight | Reported awareness does not always translate into protective behavior |
| Translation quality check | 20% of translated transcripts were independently audited | The research team used a documented process to check conceptual and semantic equivalence |
What the Interviews Mean for Public Health Researchers
The November 2026 PLOS One study suggests that public health messaging should treat heat exposure and UV exposure as connected but distinct risks.
Participants commonly described dehydration, dizziness, exhaustion, and fainting. The researchers explained that these accounts primarily reflected heat-related illness, while UV exposure can cause sunburn, eye damage, and cumulative skin damage without necessarily producing a sensation of heat.
The study also showed why qualitative analysis matters for intervention design. Participants described spiritual interpretations of hardship, changing social acceptance of umbrellas, uncertainty about UPF labels, product cost, forgotten equipment, language differences, and clothing constraints.
One nurse described the communication challenge directly: "The biggest challenge is language specifically who can't understand Arabic or English." A pilgrim also explained the knowledge gap by saying, "I didn’t even know there are special fabrics for blocking UV rays."
For research teams, these findings show the value of comparing themes across segments. Pilgrims emphasized comfort, cost, access, and forgetting protective items, while nurses emphasized communication barriers, training gaps, and system-level preparedness.
Health research is not a substitute for clinical guidance. The study is best used to inform non-diagnostic research, health communication, and intervention planning rather than individual medical decisions.
How Evidano Helps With AI-Enabled Qualitative Research
Problem: Researchers must synthesize many interview transcripts
Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents.
Evidano can support thematic, content, frequency, and cross-segment analyses, helping teams organize recurring ideas such as awareness gaps, cultural beliefs, cost, language, and access.
Researchers can review the resulting codes and themes against the original source material instead of relying on an untraceable summary. The Evidano features page explains the platform’s qualitative analysis capabilities.
Problem: Multilingual interviews can complicate comparison
The PLOS One study translated Arabic interviews into English and audited 20% of translated transcripts, showing why language handling is central to qualitative rigor.
Evidano supports transcription and translation workflows with custom dictionaries, which can help research teams preserve domain-specific terms and compare multilingual material more consistently.
Problem: Researchers need to compare pilgrims, nurses, and other segments
The November 2026 study found that pilgrims and nurses emphasized different barriers, so a single aggregate theme list could hide important differences.
Evidano supports cross-segment analysis and visualizations such as hierarchical codes, subcodes, word clouds, and co-occurrence networks. These views can help researchers examine whether a theme is shared across groups or concentrated in one segment.
Problem: Teams need to ask follow-up questions of their evidence
Evidano’s AI chat can let researchers query uploaded documents and analyses, making it easier to investigate questions such as which barriers were specific to nurses, which recommendations appeared across both groups, and where participants discussed UPF knowledge.
Evidano encrypts data and does not use customer data to train third-party models, which is relevant when research includes sensitive interview material. More information is available on the Evidano data security page.
FAQ: Qualitative Sun Protection Research
What did the Hajj qualitative study find about sun protection awareness?
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The November 2026 PLOS One study found that participants recognized sun exposure as a health concern but had limited understanding of UV radiation, UPF-rated products, and the UV Index.
Participants often relied on general advice such as avoiding direct sun and drinking water, while specialized UV protection concepts were unfamiliar to many pilgrims and nurses.
How many people participated in the Hajj sun protection interviews?
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The study interviewed 29 people, including 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses, during interviews conducted from June 20 to July 11, 2025.
The researchers assessed saturation separately for pilgrims and nurses because the two groups were expected to provide different perspectives.
What is the difference between heat protection and UV protection?
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Heat protection focuses on measures such as hydration, rest, cooling, and shade, while UV protection focuses on reducing ultraviolet exposure through sunscreen, UPF-rated clothing, and suitable umbrellas.
The November 2026 PLOS One study found that participants frequently interpreted sun exposure as a heat problem, which could obscure the need for separate UV-focused education.
Why is thematic analysis useful for health behavior research?
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Thematic analysis is useful because it identifies recurring patterns in people’s accounts while preserving context, meaning, and differences between participant groups.
In the Hajj study, thematic analysis connected individual comments about discomfort, faith, language, product access, and clothing to five broader themes that could inform intervention design.
Can AI replace researchers in qualitative health studies?
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AI can accelerate transcription, coding, comparison, and synthesis, but researchers remain responsible for study design, interpretation, reflexivity, ethical review, and validation.
The Hajj study used multiple coders, translation checks, member checking, and consensus discussions, demonstrating why human oversight remains important when analyzing sensitive qualitative data.
Conclusion and Next Steps for Qualitative Research Teams
The November 2026 PLOS One study shows that sun protection during Hajj is shaped by more than awareness: cultural beliefs, language, affordability, product design, comfort, and access all influence behavior.
The study also demonstrates why qualitative research teams need reliable ways to compare themes across participant groups and languages. AI-enabled analysis can reduce repetitive synthesis work while leaving interpretation and methodological judgment with researchers.
Teams studying health behavior, public health communication, or mass gatherings can use Evidano to organize interviews, analyze themes, compare segments, and query evidence more efficiently. Try Evidano for free to begin analyzing qualitative data.
Topics
- qualitative sun protection research
- AI thematic analysis
- Hajj health research
- qualitative interview analysis
- UV protection awareness
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