Objective  To analyze the incidence of adverse symptoms associated with high temperature weather and influencing factors of seeking medication for treatment of the illnesses among residents in Hainan province.

  Methods  The data of the study were from a field survey on public perceptions and adaptation for heat risks to human health conducted among residents in Hainan province in 2013. Describe statistics was used in analyses on high temperature weather-related adverse symptoms; χ² test and multivariate logistic regression were adopted to explore influencing factors of the adverse symptoms among the participants.

  Results  High temperature weather-related being agitated was reported by 30.20% and 35.20% of the participants with and without chronic diseases. There was a significant difference in the reported incidence of chest distress between the participants with and without chronic disease (P < 0.05）. Of the participants reporting adverse symptoms, 77% did not seeking medical services for the illnesses. The participants having a higher health risk perception (odds ratio OR = 0.43, 95% confidence interval 95% CI: 0.32 – 0.58), receiving health education frequently (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.31 – 0.67), and aged 60 years and above (OR = 0.63,95% CI: 0.38 – 0.94) were more likely to seek medication for the adverse symptoms; while, those with a better self-perceived health (OR = 2.55 95% CI: 1.49 – 4.35) were less likely to seek medication for the adverse symptoms.

  Conclusion  Among the residents in Hainan province, the main high temperature weather-related adverse symptom is being agitated and lack of health education and being unable to evaluate self-health status correctly are main influencing factors of seeking medical services when having high temperature weather-related adverse symptoms.