Association of Personal and Workplace Characteristics with Health, Comfort And Odor: A Survey of 3948 Office Workers in Three Buildings

Abstract

A questionnaire on health symptoms, workplace conditions, and perceived indoor air quality was administered to 3948 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC in the winter of 1989. The main goal was to determine the personal or workplace characteristics associated with health symptoms. A principal components analysis of 32 health symptoms identified 12 health factors. Each factor was generally associated with a particular body system (eyes, nose, throat, chest, central nervous system, etc.). The 12 health factors were regressed linearly on the 50‐100 personal, workplace, and spatial characteristics identified from the questionnaire and building blueprints. Significant variables (p < 0.01) were included in a second logistic regression to determine a final model. Eleven variables were associated with multiple health factors. The main workplace variables were dust and glare. Personal characteristics of importance were mold allergies and sensitivity to chemicals. Among women, lack of a college degree was an important factor. Air quality factors of importance included hot stuffy air and dry air: The odor of paint and other chemicals, and the odor of cosmetics were also associated with four or more of the health factors. Two measures of stress – heavy workload and conflicting demands – were also associated with several health factors.

Ocular, nasal, dermal and general symptoms among commercial airline crews

“…Various factors, such as type of ventilation system, high room temperature, low outdoor air-supply flow rate, and low air humidity have been shown to influence the prevalence of sickbuilding syndrome (SBS) symptoms [3,13,14,35]. In addition, this type of symptom may be related to personal factors, such as female gender [24,34,37], age [9], allergic disorders [5,21,31], bronchial hyper-responsiveness [5], and perceived psychosocial work environment [24,32,34,41].…”

Sick building syndrome among parents of preschool children in relation to home environment in Chongqing, China

“…(1) Gender; (2) A history of asthma, allergic rhinitis or eczema (yes/ no); (10) * Whether any redecoration has been done since one year before pregnancy (yes/no); (11) * Whether any new furniture has been bought since 1 year before pregnancy (yes/no); (12) * Whether subject has reported any mould spot in child's bedroom (yes/no); (13) * Whether subject has reported any damp stain in child's bedroom (yes/no); (14) * Whether subject has reported any water damage of current residence (yes/no); (15) * Whether subject has reported condensation on window panels during winter in child bedroom (yes/no); (16) * Whether subject has seen cockroaches in home before (yes/no); (17) * Whether subject has seen rats in home before (yes/no); (18) * Whether subject has seen mosquitoes/flies in home before (yes/no); (19) Whether subject has used mosquito-repellent incense in home before (yes/no); (20) * Whether subject has used incense in home before (yes/no); (21) * Whether subject has pets in home currently (yes/ no); if yes, please indicate it is (cat/dog/rodent (rabbit/rat)/ bird/aquarium fishes or reptiles/other); (22) * The frequency of cleaning child's bedroom (every day/less than or equal to twice a week); (23) * The frequency of putting child's bedding to sunshine (frequently/never or rarely); (24) The frequency of opening window in child's bedroom in winter (frequently/never or rarely).…”

“…Numerous studies have shown that female gender [7][8][9][10][11], allergies [3,12] and building dampness [13,14] are SBS risk factors. A low ventilation rate [4][5][6]15], indoor air pollution [16,17], psychosocial factors [18][19][20], a sensation of dryness [21], are also SBS risk factors. However, the mechanisms are still largely unknown.…”

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-97-0045-2676, Cle Elum-Roslyn High School, Cle Elum, Washington.

“…14,15,16 Some studies have shown relationships between psychological, social, and organizational factors in the workplace and the occurrence of symptoms and comfort complaints. 16,17,18,19 Less often, an illness may be found to be specifically related to something in the building environment.…”