Association between Sick Building Syndrome and Indoor Environmental Quality in Slovenian Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

Sedina Kalender Smajlović, Andreja Kukec and Mateja Dovjak
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Sedina Kalender Smajlović: Angela Boškin Faculty of Health Care, Jesenice 4270, Slovenia
Andreja Kukec: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
Mateja Dovjak: Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: Increased exposure times to various health risk factors and the vulnerability of building users might result in significantly higher prevalence rates of sick building syndrome (SBS) in a hospital setting compared to other indoor environments. The purpose of our study was to assess the association between SBS symptoms and measured environmental parameters at a Slovenian general hospital. A combination of a self-assessment study and field measurements was conducted in order to estimate the health risk factors for SBS symptoms among the users of a Slovenian general hospital. The Chi-square test was used to analyse the association between observed health and environmental parameters. The response rate was 67.5%. A total of 12.0% of healthcare workers at hospital wards reported at least six SBS symptoms, 19.0% reported 2–3 SBS symptoms. At the observed hospital wards, the most deviations were recorded for the level of lighting (83.3%), noise level (73.6%), and room temperature (55.3%). A statistically significant association was found between indoor environmental quality and skin-related SBS symptoms (? 2 = 0.009; p = 0.006). This information will be of great value in defining an integral strategy of environmental health activities aimed at healthier indoor environmental quality in hospitals.

Keywords: hospital ward; health risk factors; parameters; sick building syndrome; integral strategy; environmental health activities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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