Investigation of factors affecting mass psychogenic illness in employees in a fish-packing plant

Abstract

This study of the factors affecting the development of mass psychogenic illness (MPI) was carried out in a large fish‐packing plant in New Brunswick, Canada. A total of 269 out of 270 plant employees (99.6%) participated in the study and of these, 208 cases were affected with symptoms of MPI and 61 controls were unaffected over a period of 2½ months. A questionnaire was administered to participating employees to collect information about symptoms, demographic factors, work history, pre‐existing medical problems, potential workplace triggering exposure factors, and various psychosocial factors. Multiple logistic regression indicated that the main factors associated with MPI, in decreasing order of importance, were skill creation in the job, odor perception, and female sex. Management of this incident required reassurance of employees that there was no hazardous exposure in the plant as well as recognition of the need to reduce underlying sources of stress in the work environment. Am. J. Ind. Med. 32:90‐96, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Responses to odors in occupational environments

“…MPI symptoms include headache, nausea, weakness, dizziness, sleepiness, hyperventilation, fainting and vomiting, and occasionally skin disorders and burning sensations in the throat and eyes [24,25]. MPI reactions probably arise from the interaction of preexisting poor physical environment conditions (poor ventilation, poor lighting and excessive noise), stressful work conditions (tedious work, poor organizational climate and poor labor-management relations), disposition differences among individuals (gender differences and differences in anxiety levels), with the occurrence of a triggering event (bad or unusual odor) followed by inappropriate management response to the perceived threat [26,27].…”