What Hajj Interviews Reveal About Sun Protection Awareness

According to the Sun protection awareness and ultraviolet protection factor product use among pilgrims and nurses during Hajj study published in November 2026, Hajj participants recognized sun exposure as a problem but often understood it mainly as heat rather than as a separate UV risk.

The qualitative findings show that effective sun-safety interventions during Hajj must combine multilingual education, affordable protective products, culturally appropriate communication, and clear distinctions between heat-related illness and UV-related harm.

• The November 2026 PLoS ONE study interviewed 29 people: 16 Saudi pilgrims and 13 registered nurses who participated in the 2025 Hajj season.
• Researchers conducted retrospective Zoom interviews between June 20 and July 11, 2025, approximately one month after Hajj.
• The study identified five major themes: physical and emotional effects, limited awareness, cultural influences, barriers to protection, and recommendations for improvement.
• A 2025 Hajj health study cited by the authors found that 26.9% of pilgrims did not use umbrellas in direct sunlight.
• One participant summarized the knowledge gap by saying, "Everyone knows the sun is harmful, but I don’t think we understand how exactly."

The November 2026 PLoS ONE study found that pilgrims and nurses generally associated sun exposure with exhaustion, dizziness, dehydration, fainting, and emotional strain, while UV-specific effects such as sunburn and eye irritation were rarely discussed.

The researchers used a qualitative descriptive design with semi-structured interviews and analyzed the transcripts thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase approach. Three researchers independently coded an initial 20% sample, and the research team assessed saturation separately for pilgrims and nurses.

The study reported five major themes. Participants described physical and emotional effects of prolonged exposure, limited understanding of UV and UPF concepts, cultural and religious influences, practical and systemic barriers, and recommendations for education and access.

The November 2026 study found that nurses emphasized language barriers, limited formal training, and institutional constraints, while pilgrims more often emphasized cost, discomfort, forgetfulness, and difficulty finding suitable products.

The study reported that participants often assumed ordinary umbrellas, clothing, and coverings provided the same protection as UPF-rated products. One nurse said, "I always thought any umbrella would do the job. I never realized that there are umbrellas with special materials to block UV rays."

The authors noted important limits: the pilgrim sample included only Saudi nationals, the interviews captured recalled experiences rather than observed behavior, and the research covered one Hajj season.

For public health teams, the November 2026 Hajj study suggests that sun-safety messaging should separate heat prevention from UV prevention because hydration and cooling do not address every form of solar exposure.

For health educators, the study suggests that pre-travel education should explain UV, UPF, sunscreen, shade, and product labeling in multiple languages before pilgrims arrive. The authors specifically recommended culturally appropriate and visual communication because language differences and religious interpretations affected behavior.

For intervention designers, the study suggests that availability, price, comfort, and cultural fit should be analyzed alongside awareness. A message that explains UPF may have limited impact if suitable products are difficult to find, expensive, heavy, or incompatible with clothing requirements.

For qualitative researchers, the study demonstrates why separate coding of participant groups matters. Comparing pilgrim and nurse transcripts can reveal where personal barriers differ from institutional barriers, which can lead to more targeted interventions.

AI-enabled qualitative research can support this workflow by rapidly organizing multilingual interview transcripts, identifying recurring concepts, comparing groups, and preserving quotations for audit and reporting. Human researchers should still review interpretations, especially when translation, religious meaning, recall bias, and culturally specific language affect the data.

The November 2026 PLoS ONE study shows that sun protection awareness during Hajj involves more than knowing that sunlight can be harmful. Effective research and intervention design must connect UV knowledge with culture, language, product access, comfort, and the lived experiences of pilgrims and nurses.

AI-enabled qualitative research can help teams move from multilingual interviews to organized themes, subgroup comparisons, evidence-backed quotations, and practical recommendations. Evidano supports that workflow while leaving interpretation and methodological judgment with the research team.

Researchers studying Hajj health, mass gatherings, or environmental risk can try Evidano for free to analyze interviews, documents, and open-ended survey responses.