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Foam tends to
increase skin temperature because foam materials and the air they entrap tend to be poor
conductors of heat. Nicholson et al. determined that the heat transfer
characteristic of foam mattresses were less than the normal physiological resting heat
losses—up to 244 W/m2 heat loss (Nicholson, 1999). Nicholson also compared the heat
transfer rates for mattresses with and without their covers and found rates for mattresses
with covers were less by nearly half compared to heat transfer rates for mattresses
without covers.
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