Symptoms and sense of coherence – a follow-up study of personnel from workplace buildings with indoor air problems

Abstract

Objectives: The aim was to study prevalence and change of symptoms in buildings with suspected indoor air problems in relation to sense of coherence (SOC), a psychological measure of a life attitude. Methods: A cohort of 194 subjects initially working in 19 Swedish buildings with indoor environmental problems was followed from 1988 to 1998. Information on 16 symptoms compatible with sick building syndrome (SBS) was gathered by an initial questionnaire mailed between 1988 and 1992. The same symptom questionnaire, as well as Antonovsky's SOC, was administered in a postal follow-up study in 1998. The prevalence of symptoms and the change (incidence) plus reminiscence of symptoms were calculated for individual symptoms and a total symptom score (SC). Bivariate analyses, as well as multiple linear and logistic regression analyses, were applied and adjusted for age, gender, history of atopy and tobacco smoking. Results: SBS was more common in women, younger subjects and those with a history of atopy. A low SOC was related to a higher prevalence of ocular, nasal, and throat symptoms, tiredness, and headache. In addition, subjects with a low SOC developed more symptoms during the follow-up period. Women had a lower SOC value, but there was no relation between SOC and age, smoking, doctor's diagnosed asthma or a history of atopy. Subjects leaving the problem buildings during the follow-up period had a decrease in symptoms and were more often non-smokers, but had the same mean SOC score as those remaining in the same workplace. Conclusions: The study indicates that SOC can detect personal vulnerability in relation to suspected environmental stress. Symptoms reported in the buildings with suspected indoor air problems are partly reversible, as indicated by the reduction of symptoms among those leaving these buildings. A multi-disciplinary approach including personality aspects, allergic disorders and indoor exposures should be applied in investigations of buildings with suspected indoor air problems.

Personal and psychosocial factors and symptoms compatible with sick building syndrome in the Swedish workforce

“…We found that some symptoms (nasal symptoms and headache) were less common in older subjects. Some other studies have reported lower prevalence of SBS at higher age (Ooi et al, 1998;Runeson et al, 2003;Taylor et al, 1984). Burge et al (1987) found that those between 21 and 40 years of age reported more symptoms than either younger or older individuals.…”

External eye symptoms in indoor environments

“…Studies have suggested that low coping (e.g., low sense of coherence) of psychosocial challenges may change the threshold for reporting symptoms and enhancing the reporting of DE symptoms, as shown for women; this also includes increase in work demand and limited control of the environment in aircraft . Furthermore, a number of studies suggest that depression has a negative influence on DE reporting, PTF characteristics, and blurred vision has been associated with depression in patients with DED .…”

The influence of personality, measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), on symptoms among subjects in suspected sick buildings

“…The employees (both male and female) in the buildings with suspected indoor air problems had a significant increase of most types of symptoms, when compared with ‘normal’ values for a random sample of the total workforce in the same tri‐county region (Norbäck and Edling, 1991; Runeson et al., 2003). Thus, it can be concluded that the criteria for the SBS was fulfilled for the occupants in study I, according to the diagnostic principles suggested by the WHO‐study group (Akimenko et al., 1986).…”

“…AFS, 1993). The only exceptions were three of the school buildings, where the ventilation criteria were not fulfilled, see previously published hygienic data (Runeson et al., 2003).…”

“…None of the buildings had any visible signs of building dampness, such as mould growth or known water leakages. Exposure data are available from the buildings, and details have been published (Runeson et al., 2003). Mean room temperature was 20–24°C, and indoor relative air humidity was 23–55%.…”