Abstract
The prevalence and risk factors of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms in domestic environments were studied by a questionnaire survey on the home environment. Parents of 5299 3-6 years old children from randomly selected kindergartens in Chongqing, China returned completed questionnaires between December 2010 and April 2011. The prevalence of parents’ SBS symptoms (often (every week) compared with never) were: 11.4% for general symptoms, 7.1% for mucosal symptoms and 4.4% for skin symptoms. Multiple logistic regressions were applied controlling for gender and asthma/allergic rhinitis/eczema. Living near a main road or highway was a strong risk factor for general symptoms (adjusted odds ratio, aOR=2.16, P<0.001), skin symptoms (aOR=2.69, P<0.001), and mucosal symptoms (aOR=1.63, P<0.01). Redecoration was a risk factor for general symptoms (aOR=2.00, P<0.001), skin symptoms (aOR=1.66, P<0.01), and mucosal symptoms (aOR=1.66, P<0.05). New furniture was a risk factor for general symptoms (aOR=2.16, P<0.001) and skin symptoms (aOR=1.67, P<0.01). Dampness related problems (mould spot, damp stain, water damage and condensation) were all risk factors for SBS symptoms, as was the presence of cockroaches, rats, and mosquitoes/flies and use of incense. Protective factors include cleaning the child’s bedroom every day and frequently exposing bedding to sunshine. In conclusion, adults’ SBS symptoms were related to factors of the home environment.
Highlights
Since the mid-1970s, symptoms and complaints have been increasingly reported by occupants of certain buildings or specific rooms
Questionnaires lacking responses were excluded from the analyses: 155 with no children’s gender; 392 questionnaires with no parent’s gender; and 308 questionnaires with no history provided for asthma, allergic rhinitis or eczema symptoms
Our study found that using incense in the home was a risk factor for sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms
Summary
Since the mid-1970s, symptoms and complaints have been increasingly reported by occupants of certain buildings or specific rooms. Since WHO’s first reports on SBS, a large number of SBS studies have been conducted [3] These studies characterized potential risk factors for SBS symptoms. Most published studies on sick building syndrome (SBS) have dealt with symptoms among office workers. A Japanese study of sick house syndrome (SHS), which is defined to SBS, has shown that the presence of dampness (mould) as well as some semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC) was related to an increased risk of SHS [27]. A study from Stockholm reported that people who owned their home reported less “SBS” than those who rented their dwellings [28] Another cohort study from Sweden showed that dampness in a dwelling was a risk factor for new onset of SBS symptoms [29]. The main aim of the present study is to estimate the prevalence of SBS symptoms in Chongqing adults with young children, and to characterize domestic environmental factors associated with Chongqing parents’ SBS symptoms
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